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impossiblesuitcase · 4 years ago

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Cut, Comb, Detangle, Repeat - part iii.

For @salt-warrior

Chapter 3: Detangle (My Thoughts, My Hair And My Heart)

iii.

If Cinder had to select a phrase to encapsulate the situation, she would’ve chosen “calm before the storm”. It was by no means a stormy day, but the artificial and ever placid voice of the door announcer gave no indication of the stress about to rage through her office.

The empress’s office was situated along the edge of one of the palace’s cliffs, giving the wide windows a full view of the bustling city. Cinder snuck a glance outside as she sighed, ruminating over a difficult proposition from the chief military officer. Her office was lined with artful décor, books and netscreens, holographic albums of her friends and husband and scattered mechanical projects she tinkered with in her spare time. It wasn’t cluttered by her standards, but then again, her standards had never been particularly neat.

Kai often came into her office under the guise of “cleaning up the bric-a-brac,” but never did, given it was just an excuse to see her during the day. He had usually reared his head around the door by now, but Cinder wasn’t concerned by his absence. Surprise meetings were so commonplace she didn’t bother to memorize meeting schedules; royals had to be ready for presentation at all work hours, and Cinder would be ushered to meetings regardless of whether she had remembered them or not.

She would probably sneak over to his office later anyway. She didn’t expect that plan to eventuate only seconds after plotting it.

“Adviser Konn Torin, requesting entrance.”

Cinder called out to grant entrance upon hearing the door announcer. It whistled open to reveal a slumped figure on the other side.

Cinder had never seen Torin look so harried. The man was so quintessentially proper, scrupulously obeying protocol and believing diplomatic etiquette to be the solution to most if not all problems. Of course, this was just how Cinder had perceived him, and Kai had assured her that he had lightened up significantly since the revolution. She supposed she could see it, as the adviser had grown to forgo heavy sighs at the questionable actions of the Lunar queen, then ambassador, and now, with the sweet promise of forever, the empress of the Eastern Commonwealth.

“Your Majesty,” he fumbled, “your, uh, assistance is... required. The emperor. Immediately.”

Cinder’s eyebrows shot up at the word whisker. Torin never stumbled over his words.

She pushed the chair from her desk and picked up her port before reconsidering. The nervousness emanating from him—increasing with every second she delayed—impressed upon her that the only thing she needed to bring was herself.

With all his promise for change, Torin had still remained the figure of responsibility in Kai’s life, and now, Cinder’s. It was comforting having a real, proper adult who had it together that they could rely on. And for what it was worth, he seemed to have a humorous side beneath the professionalism. She also knew that Kai cared deeply for Torin, the man he’d known since birth and the closest remaining father figure he had left. She of course could always turn to her friend Garrison Clay for guidance, but he was fairly busy these days caring for the country she’d recently forsworn.

She couldn’t immediately wrap her head around what was of concern, but she could not formulate the words to ask—the whirlwind of thoughts all taking place in a matter of seconds.

The trip from her office to Kai’s was a mere minute, and the only intersecting rooms were sitting areas and a short path filled by externally louvred windows. His office door caught her eye and a sense of dread set in.

Torin surprised her by ignoring the security outlet adjacent to the door. For him to gain access he needed verbal approval from the emperor within, but Torin didn’t even press the button to request entry. He paused and straightened his jacket, then gestured to his empress, then to the wall. Cinder blinked and shook her head to clear the fog of confusion and set into action overriding the security.

No sooner had the door slid open that Cinder rushed in to the sight of her husband, crumpled in on himself. Her audio interface spiked with distressed sobbing resounding in her ears. She couldn’t even hear her own gasp and the noises her mouth emitted over the sounds from across the desk. In a few quick strides Cinder reached Kai and rounded the table to his side, immediately fastening her arms around him.

He didn’t look up, head still bowed and body racking with sobs. If he recognised her touch, it didn’t show until he transferred his face from his hands to her embrace.

Cinder got to work, brushing his sweaty bangs from his forehead and readjusting him so he could sink into her hold.

“Hey, love, Kai—babe, it’s me.”

Whether he heard her or not, Kai desperately wrapped his arms around her with filmy eyelids sealed. Cinder was too focused on the distraught man enveloped in her arms to hear Torin slip through the door, leaving the couple alone. His sigh bore some relief knowing the empress would be the best person to help His Majesty in his current predicament, but it was still laden with concern.

Cinder’s eyes darted up to assess their surroundings. She was still standing and no chair was close enough to take without relinquishing Kai—something she was not going to do. There was a couch, but it was farther away than Cinder thought he could move in his state.

Finally she decided on the quickest solution. She looped her arms underneath his shoulders and hoisted him up into her chest. Having secured him gently enough, she used her core to lower them both onto the ground, careful not to disturb him with any jerky movements. Kai gasped and Cinder soothed him by pulling him into her lap, laying his head on her breast.

Taking a hand against his forehead she found him feverish, and his tears were stained against a blotchy red complexion. Cinder ran her metal fingers through his hair. She murmured non-sequential affirmations, trying to assure him of her presence.

Tears had splattered on his portscreen resting forgotten on the desk. The rest of his watery sobs dripped down his chin into Cinder’s blouse. They grew and fell in strength, intervals of soft chokes to downright cries with no relent. Cinder wished she could release the tears welled up in her missing tear ducts, feeling a throbbing in her temples as her body raged for being unable to share Kai’s sorrow.

“I—” Kai attempted to speak, but was cut off by his own shortness of breath.

Cinder wiped her thumb along his under eye. “It’s okay, take your time, love.”

He gulped in a breath, interjected by a hiccup, and gasped to regain some control over his body.

Cinder pressed a kiss to his brow.

Kai took another shaking breath.

Cinder kissed his eyelid.

“Cinder.” Another pause, another breath, and another kiss to his cheek to find a pattern of safe reckoning in his mind.

“I don’t...I don’t know what,” he bumbled, “what, happened.”

The pads of her fingers skated over his cheeks, anchoring his mind with the physical touch.

They fell into the best silence they could manage with his heavy breaths and the pucker of gentle kisses as she slowly rocked him back and forth.

Kai had been stressed all week; she had noticed the increasing frequency that he ran his hands through his hair, jabbed his fingernails into his palms, clenched his hands till his knuckles went white. They’d been working on slowing down a bit, keeping their free time work-free and engaging in anything to distract them. Normally it worked when they went through rough patches, whether in leadership challenges or random flares of anxiety.

Cinder had comforted him like this before, but he never broke down like this at work. It was always after-hours, in their room, and it was never this bad.

They stayed bundled up on the floor for five minutes, then ten, and it wasn’t until fifteen that he turned his croaks into sounds.

He spoke slowly, like each word could undo him. “I was just...thinking about Dad.”

She pulled him higher up her chest and he could hear the thrumming of her hummed response.

He didn’t speak again, having given his explanation—not that she’d needed one. She would comfort him forever if need be, reason or not. Stars knew he had done the same for her what seemed like countless times. They would talk about it later, when they were in bed and less anxious and feeling like some, at least some of their ever mounting responsibilities could be stripped back.

Gradually he craned his head to kiss her arm and chest. The rhythmic swing of them together alleviated enough of the drowning sensation for him to bring his hands up. He could see her more clearly with his tears ebbing, and he pulled a lock of her hair into his fingers. He rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger, reveling in the grainy sensation of the microscopic ridges along the strands.

“I love your hair,” he murmured. He brushed the shorter sections off her cheek. “It was always so messy.”

She grasped the hand in hers and brought it to rest on her cheek.

His eyes traced the planes of her chin and jaw. “It used to be shorter.”

She hadn’t had it short since she’d been queen. An empress wore headdresses and complicated updos, with innumerable pins and clasps and intricate sculpted gold clips. There were tassels and rods to hold everything in place and it took her maids never-ending minutes to secure everything. Once the hair fixed like a boat moored to a dock, not even the harshest gales were able to dismantle it.

But fringes were inconvenient, always just too short to fit in a clip or falling out no matter how much hairspray was used. Cinder didn’t bother to request a cut, knowing she might avoid the complaints from Tressa.

Cinder laughed, a small barely audible chuckle within her torso. “It grew when I did.”

He raked his hands through it, careful that his nails didn’t dig into her scalp. It was the slightest touch of delicate fingertips. He kissed the ends when he reached them, and remained with his head bowed into her chest.

She hunched over and lay her forehead just underneath his earlobe. There was a scar there from when she’d cut out his ID chip five years before. He went on detangling the plain brown strands like they held all the wonders of the world.

———

Torin rescheduled all meetings the monarchs had that afternoon and slumped into his office chair. He cared for both of them now and teamed up with Cinder when necessary to coax Kai into caring for his physical health. They were as mature as they could be in their circumstances, and Torin wanted to support that transition however he could. For as long as he’d known Kai, he knew the boy needed others to prop him up in times of struggle. Cinder suited him well that way.

Later the adviser peeked into the emperor’s office just as Nainsi entered with tea. He saw the couple had moved to the couch and were chatting in low voices. Kai was in Cinder’s arms and still brushing her hair therapeutically. She gave a half suppressed laugh at one of his quips, and lay her head onto his in exasperation. Kai drew the hair over his face like a veil and brought his opposite hand to rest on her calf.

Torin backed away from the door with a satisfied breath, the corners of his lips reaching upward points in his relief.

———

“I really thought she was going to break up with him for me.”

“Mhm.”

Kai breathed in the scent of shampoo and felt as her blanket of hair tickled his eye lashes. “Because I was a Prince.”

“Oh you definitely played that card with me. ‘Why won’t you come to the ball with me? I’m the prince!’”

He rolled his eyes when she mimicked his grumpy harrumph, at himself more than anything. “She married the architect and broke my heart. Then I realised it was never going to happen between us.”

“You had a thing for unavailable women, huh?”

“Ah yes, you weren’t impressed by me and in that moment, I was sold.”

“I was very impressed by you.” She nuzzled her nose against his, upside down.

“Not like the other girls I dated before. They were nice, but you know, no real spark. Besides”—his eyes slipped shut with a closed lipped grin—“I must’ve had a thing for mechanics.”

“Implying you’ve liked several mechanics. Is that why you always got the palace mechanics to install your port upgrades, hmm?”

He poked a finger under her jaw. “You have the brains in this relationship.”

“I like that. You can be the pretty one.”

He shook his head. "Love, you’re beautiful.”

“Oh trust me, I’m happy to look average.” She exhaled in relief. “Less adoring fans that way.”

“You’ve always been beautiful to me. And I made sure to rub it in Levana’s slimy face at the wedding.”

“Of course you did.”

“She glamoured herself to look like you,” he murmured, feeling her hot breath as it rippled along his cheeks.

Her lip curled in surprise. “Really? Actually, I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“She didn’t wear your face well. Too grumpy and evil. I could’ve stabbed her for doing it, oh wait, I did.”

Cinder laughed and rubbed her hands up his forearms. She paused. “You wanna go to bed?”

He jolted up, but she lowered his shoulders back to the couch. “Really?” he asked. “Isn’t it only the afternoon?”

“I meant we could get away from the office. You’ve been here all day.”

He mused on the options. “We have dinner later.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think I can go anywhere.”

“So, bed?”

He inhaled a long breath and twisted to the side. He kissed her cheek where it lay near his face. “In a few more minutes.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Dinner was usually the most formal affair of the day. Multiple course banquets were held, even on the days when it was only Cinder and Kai dining. The dining hall was traditional and inviting, but they loved it most when it was occupied by their friends. The royal respectability was utterly trashed with prawns tossed around the table and chili flakes accidently sprinkled into the always steaming pots of jasmine tea.

There were times where Cinder seriously considered banning Thorne from using soy sauce as he drowned everything in it. Times where they requested forks in advance because Wolf grew frustrated by the finicky coordination required for chopsticks. Times where the beautiful culinary presentations were overlooked for homely tupperware containers of Scarlet’s cakes.

But even when it was just Kai and Cinder, Cinder and Kai, the hall was always formal, no matter how random the conversations or casual the clothes. Kai didn’t need that today.

They retired to bed and Kai slept soundly in her arms. He was still asleep when she got up to request two special orders from the chefs: one, to prepare nothing for dinner and two, to make a special dish she knew was the recipient’s favourite. Cinder hardly used paper, but the plate of steaming goods left on Torin’s desk came with sprawled, untrained handwriting: “Thanks Torin, from your ever grateful royal trainees.” She hoped it’d be legible, given she’d never attended school to build up writing dexterity.

She made another order, one that she ducked out of the palace to pick up. A glamour would disguise her appearance for conspicuity’s sake, but the teenage delivery girl didn’t even glance at her face. “Here’s your food, and here’s the scanner” seemed her unspoken motto. Cinder wasn’t going to complain; her job would be much easier if people were similarly agreeable.

She returned and found Kai in an armchair with his dedicated book port in hand. Reading fiction instead of work documents was a good sign.

“Come on,” she called as she entered, rattling the food bags, “balcony time.”

———

The sun was dipping low, as did Kai's eyelids. The balcony on the sixteenth floor was high enough that even staff below wouldn’t be able to see them. The air bounced off their skin, and any sticky perspiration was remedied with the swig of saké.

Cinder unpacked the takeaway containers filled with gooey, fried and terribly unhealthy street food.

Kai gasped. “Real food, like overly sweet, oily junk food?”

Cinder stuck her chopsticks into a piece of szechuan pork, the sauce oozing off it as she lifted it. “Yep. It hasn’t even gone through nutrition testing. For shame.”

He stole the piece off her utensil with a single bite. “Tragedy.”

They munched quietly and happily, having their fair share of stealing each other’s bites. That was until Cinder drowned her rice in a mountain of gochujang, which Kai sneaked and choked on.

She laughed after she handed him a glass to abate the burning. “Where’s your spice tolerance? Weren’t you raised on this stuff?”

His nose reddened. “It’s not usually”—a cough—“so concentrated.”

He gulped the water down, waiting for the heat to subside before speaking. “We should go there in person next time.”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure they’re takeaway only,” she said absentmindedly as a throwaway point of conversation.

He gave her a pointed look. “There’s a thousand joints that serve the exact same greasy food in the city. At least one of them will be sit in.”

She swallowed a bite. “Last time I tried to get into any of them I got: ‘we don’t serve cyborgs, ever.’”

“Not even empress cyborgs?”

“Hmm. I could be an exception.”

He tucked his hands under his thighs to stop his thumbs from trembling from his earlier bout of anxiety. “We should go, have a night on the city like we do when the crew is here.”

“Sure. I could glamour us, if you don’t want to get mauled by paparazzi.”

He sat forward, curious. “You’ve always insisted against that.”

“I know,” she sighed, “but I think I need to be reasonable. As long as I’m not manipulating anyone, I’m not sure that it’s the embodiment of evil if you’re just using it to go on a date with your husband, discreetly.”

He nodded. “You know I would never judge you for it.”

“I know. After all, I do wanna take our kids into the city, when we have them. Better than keeping them cooped up here forever to become...”—she gestured, grasping for words—“sheltered and socially frustrated.”

She stretched out her arms, her veins glowing blue in the dwindling light. “A glamour can give them the actual experience, all the untainted poverty and mess and such, all the things the royal experience hides.”

He brushed his bangs from his forehead with the rim of the glass, the liquids already mostly drunk. His childhood hadn’t fit Cinder’s description of normality, and he agreed. He may be less stressed if he hadn’t grown up so isolated and removed from society.

“There’s no point in masking all the bad things with royal treatment. Glamours can provide that opportunity, and…” she trailed off.

“Dinners out are a good step in that direction,” he offered, perceptive as he had grown to be.

She nodded, and used the end of her chopstick to dislodge food from her teeth.

This balance made them good rulers for the country. Cinder had been the very lowest of society, experiencing first hand the disenfranchisement and struggle of those considered worthless. Kai had the greater perspective, the concept of how issues melded and clashed with each other, the greater scheme of things that was in some ways static and yet ever pliable. She provided the personal reality, he fit it into the broader reality.

Neither of them were very good at recognising their limitations, but simple moments like this, that could be had by any other couple in the country, narrowed that scope into feasibility. Compartmentalise where necessary, even when it took sticky fried food to awaken their senses into realising that.

The dark sky lulled his eyes to drop, and the buzz from the alcohol and the warm fullness of his belly comforted him. Cinder’s hand running pattering movements over his thigh did even more so.

His hand gripped his chopstick tightly, a habit of all the times he took his gut-wrenching stress out on his hands. Cinder always told him he’d get premature arthritis. She picked his hand up and wacked her chopstick against his, inciting a mini battle.

He laughed but wasn’t to win when the impeccable reflexes of her metal hand were a variable. She grabbed his utensil in a swift pluck. “Victory,” she cheered in a whisper-yell.

“My sincerest congratulations,” he murmured with an earnest, content smile.

She giggled, and when she kissed him with lips glossy from sesame oil and tingly from the saké, he could’ve melted with the fading liquid sun.

Notes -

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5

If you were curious, the part about Kai falling in love with a chef who married an architect is actually canon! You can read about it from Marissa here. He really is such a hopeless romantic.

For Elwin, who dedicated a crack fic to me like the sweet person she is. I started writing this chapter months ago and lo and behold a week after I started she published The Other Side of Sorrow which is about a similar thing. We must be telepathic. I also chose this one for you because it has the most kaider and you're a sucker for it. If you haven't read her fic yet (you probably have), go check it out! It did everything this fic does better!

tags list: @cinderswrench @cindersassasin @just2bubbly

#tlc #the lunar chronicles #lunar chronicles #kaider #emperor kai #linh cinder #cinder #konn torin #married kaider #kaider fanfiction #kai x cinder

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stones-x-bones · 3 years ago

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All You Left Behind || Solo

CONTENT: Head trauma (coma), Domestic abuse mentions, Parental Death mention

Bex runs some errands..

Georgie was still in a coma. She had brain activity, and sometimes she even mumbled in her sleep, in her unconscious state, but there was little sign of her waking soon. The doctors said they didn’t even know if there was a sign that could signal that. Comas were complicated. Magic ones even more so, Bex supposed.

Bex had laid the bouquet she’d bought down on the table at the end of the bed, but she hadn’t been able to stay long. She’d left with a promise that she’d fix her, she would. She just needed to...figure out how. But she needed to leave before anyone else showed up, because she knew she wouldn’t be able to look them in the eyes and pretend like she hadn’t done that to Georgie. It had been written off as a freak earthquake, but Bex was the earthquake. Her magic had done this to Georgie, and she’d fix it. She would, she would.

The second bouquet was being carried up a hill in a cemetery. She pulled the hood of her jacket up to conceal her face-- being caught here would be worse than being caught at Georgie’s bedside. August snow crunched under boots as Bex crested the hill and made it up to the plot of land that had been reserved almost as long as her own family’s plot of land in Harmony Hill.

Frank Goldman’s grave still looked fresh somehow. She half expected him to burst from the ground and reach to pull her in with him. She’d let him. She’d deserve it.

Frank still lived in her nightmares, in the shadow of her mother, and in the whispers of trees that made dark forests.

She saw his face, sometimes, in a crowd. A passing glance over her shoulder, or out of the corner of her eye. At the edge of the trees, where town gave way to forest and people gave way to creatures.

Her heart stuttered every time. Her heart stuttered so much these days. Sometimes it hurt and ached in a painful way, as if it could not pump enough blood through itself to keep the tide of exhaustion away. On those days, Bex stayed in the house, but never in her bed, all day. She pretended to do chores, instead, or to preoccupy herself with some hobby or another. Making bone art with Morgan, or drawing lazy edges of maps on canvas in her room. Nothing ever saw the light of day, but the bones hung on shed walls and the maps stayed rolled up in drawers next to her desk.

Frank Goldman’s grave came back into view as her thoughts came back to her and Bexley looked at it with shame. Carefully, she set the bouquet in front of it and watched the small breeze lift ready to wilt petals from the stems. “I’m sorry.”

Footsteps behind her dragged her gaze away from the stone, only to meet two eyes she thought had disappeared with Frank’s that fateful day.

“You.”

It was the same voice Bex had heard as she watched red pool over her hands in an attempt to quell the blood. It had not worked. She had sworn the boy had died right under her palms.

But here he was, glaring at her, eyes sunken, skin pale. He shook, but not with anger, with an ache. An uncontrollable tremor that Bex had once experienced, after she’d used up all her magic to destroy the warden who had hurt Mina. She recognized the magic, she could feel it drifting off of him.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

With a startle, Bex realized she hadn’t said anything yet. “I-- I just wanted to--”

The broken warden’s eyes drifted to the flowers placed on his friend’s grave. “You’ve gotta be shitting me. How dare you! This is your fault!” The bouquet he had was thrown to the ground as hands swung up and clamped down around Bex’s neck. He shook her and she did not fight. His grip choked her, but it was weak, this was all he could manage. She deserved this. “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance. Then he wouldn’t be-- then he--” Tears in his eyes. He had loved Frank, Bex could recognize the look in his eyes. It was the same way she looked at Mina when she’d seen her bleeding out on a forest floor.

Bex felt her own cheeks burn, hot tears streaking down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she managed to choke out, “I never wanted-- I didn’t want this.”

The other warden’s arms were growing weary, Bex could tell, but he kept his pressure on. He tried to step forward but stumbled, concentration all on Bex, and the two tumbled to the grass next to Frank’s grave. Bex put her arms up to catch the warden atop her as his grip finally released from her neck, no worse for wear, but ready to freckle with bruising later, when she would look in the mirror and wonder why she hadn’t fought back.

A limp fist came down on her chest. “Fuck you!” The warden boy shouted. He was crying and angry and upset. He was grieving. Bex would let him. “Fuck you! I hate you!” And it went on and on. The same few lines, the same limp fists pounding at her chest, her face, her arms. More bruises, for later. They’d go away, bruises always went away. Until then, she’d tell Mina she fell while walking in the woods. She didn’t know how to explain the ring around her neck yet, and she wouldn’t find one before going home.

When the warden grew weary, she sat with him, even as he protested. She learned his name was Lucas, and that he’d only moved to White Crest a year ago. She learned that over that time, Frank had become his best friend. And she learned that over time, Lucas had loved him like a brother. They went on hunts together, they compared techniques, they told each other the things they couldn’t tell their hunter parents-- Frank had tried his best to be there for him, until Bex came into the picture.

When she left, Bex told him she hoped things got better, that she was glad he wasn’t dead. He had just scowled and told her to never come back here, told her that he would finish the job next time (code be damned, it wasn’t like he was a hunter anymore, wasn’t like he could ever be one again, not really) if she did. He would be stronger, then. He would be healed, then.

The next stop didn’t require a bouquet of flowers, but a map. Bex traced the line of the river, remembering well all that it had tried to take from her. Daylight trickled through the trees, warm sunbeams trying to stave off the cold of the mysterious weather phenomena. Bex had never really minded the snow, but she missed the warmth of summer. She wanted to feel the moonlight in her veins again.

She walked past the spot where their boat had capsized, but there wasn’t a single trace of it left. It was as if it had never happened, and Bex would have believed it hadn’t had her mind not tried to constantly remind her of those days. Sometimes she woke up and in the dark of her room, it wasn’t Mina sleeping beside her, but her bloodied corpse. She’d always rub the illusion out of her eyes in haste, but never soon enough to stop her heart from pounding. Bex found herself checking Mina’s pulse too often, in the dark of her room at night, when the other girl lay asleep next to her. It was always steady.

Finally, the lake came into view, and Bex was thrown back to the moment where the sky had roiled with thunder and lightning, and she’d desperately gripped Mina in her arms, wading into the water as fast as she could. Holding her under, and for a moment-- just a single moment-- feeling peaceful as their eyes met. Bex had wanted to crash into the water with her, where it was silent and nothing was heavy.

She walked around the edge towards the dock, where the boathouse sat, still weary with old age, but refusing to give in. She didn’t stop in it this time, just shouldered her bag as she made it up to the front porch. The door was still open. She stepped inside and found the place untouched except by nature. Preserved. It was a moment of the past long gone but still haunting the present. Old bandages on the table, a pot by the cinders of a long put out fire, pink stains of dirty bath water-- deep red stains on the cotton sheets. She knew Mina thought about it a lot, too. The memories that stained the cabin floor, and the tub, and the raggedy couch were not good ones. They tore at Bex’s chest like the claws of a wolf and made it ache and she let herself ache. She hadn’t been able to for so long. But she could now. She could now.

She resolved to come back later. She needed more supplies. For all its painful memories, Bex did not hate the cabin. In fact, she owed it her life, and more importantly, Mina’s. This place had not been a cage, trapping them inside-- it had been a haven, in a terrible storm that consisted of rain and thunder and a boy who had lost his way.

She hurried back to town, marking the trail to remember easier next time. She nearly missed the ferry, pushing through the turnstile as she waved her ticket at the guard. He was more than happy to help a gracious young woman like herself, and Bex put on a tight-lipped smile as she sidled past and onto the ferry. She supposed even in death, her name meant something.

The third bouquet was set at the foot of the manor stairs. She didn’t dare go inside, there was still police tape up around the front doors, anyway. Instead, she looked up at the ornate doors that had once been her prison bars, and the columns of the old building, the arching entryway, and the inlaid windows, carefully carved and crafted out of the finest brick and marble. She wondered if it would burn.

There was nothing left to say to the building-- it was just as dead as her mother.

While she waited for the ferry to come back, Bex stared over the edge of the banister into the lapping waves. She’d visited three places that day that had been left scarred and ruined by her magic. No-- by her choices. If people caused pain, then her magic was a gun. That was the saying, right? Guns don’t kill people, people do. She pulled the trigger, each time. Frank may have died by Mina’s hand, but the inevitability of it was only set in motion because of her. She dropped a rock into the water and watched the waves swallow it, the ripples it tried to cause, as if the rock had never existed. She wondered if it might be a metaphor of the people she’d hurt.

But people weren’t rocks and the world wasn’t an ocean. Georgie had family and friends, always sitting by her side, reading her stories and telling her about their days and waiting for her to wake up. And Frank had had friends, and family, and even if they were used to burying their children, Bex knew his mother had wept. And even Odell’s absence was felt, in the hollow of Bex’s chest, and in the empty office that she’d walked into one fateful night and finally, finally found the key to her freedom.

The ferry horn whistled and Bex stood from her spot, rubbing at the soreness on her neck. She sat in a corner by herself and watched the island that she’d grown up on shrink in the distance. Her entire life had been about pain and suffering, but now she had a chance at something new. She’d caused so much pain, just to pull herself out of the hole she’d been buried in. She didn’t want to do that anymore.

Her magic had hurt too many people. The first step to getting through something was to admit the problem existed. Her magic wasn’t the problem, though. No, it was her lack of control. Her problem had always been a lack of control, and now she had a freedom she’d seldom dreamt about. Sometimes it felt almost wrong. Sometimes it felt overwhelming. But, mostly, it felt relieving. She had room to figure herself out now, to stretch her feet, and her arms, and stop folding herself into a tiny box. She could exist.

She wondered on her place in this world. She didn’t have an answer, but as she continued to watch the island grow into a speck on the horizon, she wondered if, maybe, that didn’t matter. Maybe she didn’t need an answer yet. Maybe that’s what life was, like a dig-- searching for an answer and finding more questions along the way.

All Bexley knew was that she wasn’t going to let her magic hurt anyone anymore. All she wanted to do was help, and to protect those she loved, and she knew if she could just control her magic, she could. She could. And so it was time she took control of it.

It was time to put the pot back together.

#solo #wickedswriting #all you left behind #head trauma tw #domestic abuse tw #parental death tw

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cartoonfangirl1218 · 4 years ago

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Random Disney story ideas. Like if they were ever to do a YA book like they did with Hans in A Frozen Heart. Mainly on background characters.

Love at first sight (Not just a girl's fairy tail)- Tale of Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty from the Prince POV.

A Barmaid in a Castle- One of the bimbettes go to the beast's castle find Gaston and a job after her family hit poverty and she has to support her sisters. Falls in love with "chandelier." Title from An American in Paris

Mr. and Mrs. Djinn- Comedy of Genie and Eden on their honeymoon where they accidentally be apart of the plot to overthrow Julius Caesar. Title from Mr. and Mrs. Smith

First Step (The fist step changes everything)- Ting Ting (Mulan II) becomes queen and marries Ling

Nakome- Nakome’s life in America, to abandon her homeland from white settlers

Eye of the Horned King-Sequel to the Black Cauldron. Shipping between taken and Eliwony

The Other Sister-Drizella's redemption

I can't believe my heart- Megara working as Hades' minion.

Truth (But no listens)- Cassandra's visions in the future

Below are ideas of like sequel spin off to Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles.

1. Briar

It's been years since the overthrow of Queen Levana and the world is safe for now. Queen Winter rules with grace and poise but something evil is lurking. As the Lunar people make more room for their ever growing population, they find that something evil is lurking in the depths.

Briar, a noble's daughter is training to become a servant for Queen Winter. A position that most envy. Including the former android, Millicent (Sorry it was the closest I could get And I'm lazy). When Millicent creates a new virus causing people to go into a coma, she claims that it will spread to all until Briar gets it. Putting a price on her head.

Caught between authority, opportunities and intents of vengeance, Briar flees to the forest where she stumbles across a new evil. One that doesn't like the Lunar people invading her territory.....

2. Aquamarine or Aqua

Briar is back and is leader of the squad sent to take down this new threat, the problem is she doesn't know who or what she's are facing. And Duke Felipe couldn't be anymore unhelpful.

Back to New Beijing, Aquamarine, a cyborg that is wheel-chaired bound is following in the steps of her hero, Cinder. She dreams of becoming a great mechanic but her father doesn't want her to go to the first class world in fear of being ostracized. The desire only grow more when she meets a sailor for the army who promises her the chance to go to the first class world and give her new legs. When then bumps into Briar, she convinces them that she could be helpful for whatever it is they are searching but before that could happen she must get legs from a siren who might not be in favor with Winter as she seems.

3. Bonita

Briar, Felipe, Aqua and Vladimir are on the hunt, literally. Together they must root out some Levana supporters that are threatening Queen Winter and they found a powerful ally to help them, Queen La who wants to keep her territory to herself and become queen.

Their new hope team mate is Bonita. A lowly girl, daughter of an android maker whose only beauty is her intelligence. All the spare time, not looking in the mirror has made Bonita a great detective.

Although her loyalty may still be to her boss, a man working for the jungle queen that is picking off Lunar people from her territory.

In fear of death, Bonita must do as she is told but she still leads them through the mazes of Opar, and let's them get captured. The ambiguity of their new team mate is dangerous, and they must decided whether to trust her and take her down.

Prequel

Untamed or Uncivilized

Wild, savage, not to be trifled with, and too delusional to reason.

The Queen of Opar has many names and uses her men to get what she wants but behind the low threatening growl, was once a woman driven into obsession.

Long before the Lunar people invaded her lands, before her mighty empire had fallen. She had fallen in love and her love was caged. High priestess in training was tricked and exiled from her tribe after her father made her immortal. Though the consolation as queen for leopards was nice, she was alone. Alone with only animals for company.

Until she met him. The king of the jungle, man of apes. A fine specimen and a perfect mate. It was all perfect, rule together, live together, have only each other until invaders came to her land. And took the only mate worthy of her time.

She wanted him back, who could blame her for taking and sacrificing every man who dared enter land. In search of the one she wanted. The perfect one.

Years passed, and he returned. He changed. The man of fury, the man of passion, the man of the wild she knew was gone and now stood a stranger. A stranger who wanted to cage her and become a "good, proper wife for a nice fellow."

In the land of the jungle only the strong survive unless you were trapped in a steel cage first...

4. Moonflower

Moonflower part of the harem of Queen Winter's greatest enemy. Her father wants nothing more but to have his eldest married even if it is to the adviser.

#cassandra #hercules #genie #aladdin #eden #bimbettes #disney #random musings #the solar chronicles

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rebelsofshield · 4 years ago

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Star Wars: Shadow Fall-Review

The second installment of Alexander Freed’s Alphabet Squadron trilogy is a character driven story of survival and personal growth that ranks among the best novels to come out of Star Wars in years.

(Review contains minor spoilers)

For the first time in the Galactic Civil War, both sides are in equal footing. With the death of the Emperor and the cataclysmic events following the Battle of Endor, The Empire has fallen into disarray and chaos. No central leadership exists and the once terrifying fascist force has split into different factions vying for survival. The New Republic fairs no better. Caught between mopping up between Imperial holdouts and trying to establish a government of its own, the former Rebellion is stumbling as well. All sides are scrambling to make sense of a new galactic order. Caught in the middle of this mess are the ragtag starfighters of Alphabet Squadron. Lead by a guilt ridden Yrica Quell, these five war weary pilots make a new desperate ploy to capture the still elusive and dangerous forces of Shadow Wing, a deadly TIE Fighter regiment that remains one of the Empire’s strongest remaining assets. However, Shadow Wing faces its own test of survival, now under control of Quell’s former mentor, Soran Keize.

Alphabet Squadron was one of the biggest and best surprise hits of last year. While Alexander Freed had already cut his teeth on writing Star Wars with the mostly underwhelming Battlefront: Twilight Company and the novelization for Rogue One, the first in his starfighter trilogy kicked off with an emotional and character driven drama that proved compelling from the getgo. Freed’s prose is dense and detailed and arguably more so than any other current prose writer working for Lucasfilm has the ability to make the world of the Galaxy Far, Far Away feel lived in. There’s an attention to on the streets storytelling. Our characters are fleshed out, flawed, and emotional characters, but they are far from the larger than life icons we see in much of Star Wars. They are part of the galactic swell of millions caught in the middle of a conflict that will change the shape of their society for decades to come.

It’s this feeling of upheaval and cultural shift that gives Shadow Fall much of its success. Freed paints the last year of the Galactic Civil War as a transitional period and while Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy may have been about the end point of this transformation, Shadow Fall concerns itself with the tough growing pains of societal metamorphosis. As Alphabet Squadron and their fellow New Republic allies attempt to liberate a planetary system orbiting a black hole, they have to contend with their own spread thin forces but also with their place as galactic liberators. They are no longer scrappy rebellious underdogs, but representatives of one government ousting another. Similarly, Soran Keize finds his leadership of Shadow Wing borrowing more and more from the Rebellion, with strategy shifting from wartime to success to the physical and mental health of the men in his charge. Freed creates a general feeling throughout of shaky footing and unease. The end point of the war is well in hand, but nobody is quite sure what it might entail and that proves to be something that drives introspection not only morally and politically, but also spiritually.

Freed’s ability to layer the Galaxy Far, Far Away with detail and nuance remains a strength, but the overall success of Alphabet Squadron proved to be its cast of compelling characters. By the end of its page length, we left the first novel of this series with a dynamic central cast, each with their own wants and weaknesses, and even a collection of memorable supporting characters. Shadow Fall continues that trend here, and while some standouts from the last novel such as Kairos and Nath Tensent (the former in particular) don’t get enough time in the spotlight, Freed digs in deeper with many of his cast than ever before. Following the likes of The Empire Strikes Back, Shadow Fall takes the middle chapter route of separating its heroes and putting them through the emotional ringer.

Yrica Quell remains the most complicated and compelling of the bunch. With her New Republic intelligence handler, Caern Adan, now aware of her secret participation in the genocidal Operation Cinder, Quell finds herself at risk with her fellow pilots. Freed fills her chapters with a sense of hesitancy, tension, and guilt ridden trauma as Quell tries to navigate the comfort of her new life with the looming atrocities of her past. Shadow Fall takes Quell on a twisting and harrowing journey and she ends the novel in an unexpected place that is sure to shake things up for the final installment likely coming next year.

In contrast, Soran Keize makes for an interesting new take on the sympathetic Imperial antagonist. It’s rare that we see a member of the Galactic Empire written with this amount of emotional depth and empathy. There’s a rightful hesitancy to paint representatives of sci-fi fascism with humanity and typically once a Stormtrooper or officer starts to show a hint of light, it means they are redemption bound. Keize makes for a fascinating inversion of this. We first met him having already deserted the Empire, trying to eke out life under a new name and purpose. Keize ended Alphabet Squadron with a decision to rejoin the Empire, but his role in Shadow Fall is far from fanatical patriotism. Instead, Keize becomes a steward for Shadow Wing, attempting to protect the men and women under his command from death and despair. It’s a more humanistic approach than we’ve seen from an Imperial before and it gives the battles at the novel’s climax an additional weight.

Other standouts prove to be Wyl Lark and Chass na Chadic. Lark made an impression and quickly became a fan favorite out of Alphabet Squadron due to his unshakeable moral character and optimism. In a series that approaches being dour in its chaos and bloodshed, Freed strongly balances out the ensemble with a character that feels as attuned to the light as Lark. Shadow Fall maneuvers him into a leadership position that he finds himself taking on maybe a bit too much responsibility and complicated even further by the intense empathy he feels for the empathy at every step. Freed paints Lark as a good man that isn’t made into a bad one by the horrors of war, but finds himself struggling to find the right thing to do at all times. It makes for compelling and hopeful conflict.

Chass na Chadic, the music spewing B-Wing pilot, was a colorful addition to Alphabet Squadron, but she more than any other character feels like she comes into her own here in Shadow Fall. The last surviving member of multiple squadrons who met their end by the hands of the Empire, Chass has never expected to live through to the end of the Galactic Civil War. She doesn’t actively wish for death, but has more so accepted a reality that her survival isn’t a part of. Combined with her own sense of sardonic humor and multi-species discography, Chass constantly feels like she’s hiding layer upon layer of emotion but remains entertaining all the same. In a smart move, Freed puts Chass in a place that challengers her nihilism in startling ways and it makes for some of the most interesting subject matter of the novel.

If anything proves a little shaky with Shadow Fall, it’s that the overall uncertainty of its world and characters bleeds a bit too much into the plot as well. Freed’s characters feel concerned with moment to moment survival and while it makes for a thrilling and at times emotional read, it’s easy to leave the second installment of Alphabet Squadron feeling a tad unmoored. It’s unclear what exactly this trilogy is building to outside of another conflict between our titular starfighter team and their elusive enemy. I will find myself picking up the next installment in order to catch up with these characters that I have become so attached to and not necessarily because I’m waiting with baited breath for the conclusion of this winding story.

As was the case with Alphabet Squadron, Freed’s prose knows how to oscillate in tempo and focus with ease. His descriptions are detailed and dynamic. His character prose is insightful and personal without feeling overbearing. His action scenes feel kinetic and explosive. It’s impressive just how thick and dense Freed’s prose can feel when it needs to, but how quickly it can shift to something quicker and more action oriented without sacrificing the detail that defines the rest of the novel. It represents a clear evolution from the sometimes leaden Twilight Company that builds upon the style but makes it much more emotionally and narratively engaging.

With Shadow Fall, Alexander Freed’s solidifies Alphabet Squadron as the new Star Wars trilogy to watch for. It’s characters are just as haunting and compelling as ever and Freed’s writing feels more lived in and organic than anything else offered by Lucasfilm Publishing at this time. Pick this book up and savor the read. I’m going to miss these lost souls over the next year.

Score: A

#Star Wars #Star Wars novels #review #reviews #Alphabet Squadron #Shadow Fall #Alexander Freed

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legendsofthegffa · 5 years ago

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

A Satisfying Conclusion to the Sequel Trilogy, But an Underwhelming Finale to the Skywalker Saga

**SPOILERS!**

Well folks, here we are; four years ago, Episode VII came out and, despite leaning very heavily on nostalgia, still proved to be an exciting new beginning for Star Wars on the big screen. Three years ago, we saw Rogue One, which has proven to be a film that I enjoy more with each viewing. Two years ago, Episode VIII divided the fan base in a way not seen since Episode I, and proved to be an emotionally trying film for me personally. A year ago, we were without a Star Wars film, as Solo had already come out, and unfortunately had been caught up in the backlash against The Last Jedi, despite being a solid film in its own right. And now here we are with Episode IX; an exciting and enjoyable film, but one that stumbles to deliver on forty years worth of films and storytelling.

Rather than go into the plot, I want to touch on various aspects kind of like I did with my review of The Last Jedi; in this way, I can address some of my thoughts, critiques and predictions from that film as well as about the Sequel trilogy as a whole. First and foremost, let’s look at the biggest and probably most controversial aspect of the film: Palpatine. Making Darth Sidious the final villain was an excellent choice as a means of tying all nine films together; where it stumbles in his sudden and inexplicable return. As a hardcore Star Wars fan who liked the original story of the Emperor’s return in Legends, I was fine with them doing the same thing in the movies; while I do wish Snoke had returned instead (would have really been that hard to hand-wave Snoke’s return? It would have established him as having powers that Sidious didn’t, would have turned him from the joke that he became back into a serious villain, and would have given this trilogy its own unique feel, rather than the post-script that it ultimately was). Unfortunately, one of the core tenets of this film seems to be doing damage control for Episode VIII, rather than allowing it to tell its own story. While I appreciate that in other aspects, Snoke and Sidious is one place where I wish they had stayed the course rather than appeasing the really-sour fans that take their dislike of the film to new levels.

So with that spiel out of the way, let’s get into Palpatine proper. We don’t get any definitive answer to how he returned, but the body he’s inhabiting his decrepit and corpse-like, suspended from a mechanical arm (which, in all of the reviews I have seen of the movie, have yet to mention that it looks like Megatron’s setup from Beast Machines), and missing fingers. My guess, and we’ll get into this more when we look at the quote-unquote “build-up” for his return in the EU, is that he managed to transfer his spirit into a clone body, but the body can’t handle Sidious’ dark side power and is wasting away. When Kylo comes to confront him, we learn that Sidious has been manipulating Ben for years, including creating and using Snoke as a puppet to train Kylo Ren and speaking to him as his grandfather, Darth Vader. His plan (such as it is), is to either get Kylo to kill Rey, before I can only presume draining his life-force after proving he was the stronger Force-user, or getting Rey to kill him so that his power will pass into her and she will take his place as Sith Empress of the galaxy. Ultimately, neither of those things happens, and he ends up draining the life of both Ben and Rey to regenerate himself, but even for Palpatine this seems like a messy and convoluted “plan”.

Speaking of the “plan”, lets look at the hints that were laid since 2015, now that we know what it’s all been “leading towards”. We know that Palpatine was looking to expand into the Unknown Regions due to sensing a strong dark side-presence there; while at first we all believed this to be Snoke, but now it seems to be the planet of Exogal. What comes next is a muddled and uncertain, but at some point Sidious seems to have found this planet and set up his ultimate fail safes: a duplicate body for him to inhabit should he die, and a cult of ultra-loyal and dedicated Sith adherents to serve as his attendants, instruments and Final Order. The events of the Original Trilogy occur, and after Palpatine is killed by Vader, he puts some of his other contingency orders into effect: Operation: Cinder, and laying the groundwork for the First Order (which we now know has just been a front for the Final Order). The Emperor believed that if he was killed, then the Empire and the rest of the galaxy deserved to burn; had this gone on without a hitch, its likely Palpatine would have returned with his combined forces of ultra-loyal followers once he had regained his power and swept up the remnants of the galaxy beneath him. However, the New Republic and some of the Imperials interfered in his plans and prevented Operation: Cinder from being carried out, as well as forcing the Empire’s surrender at the Battle of Jakku.

Now, its likely that as with in Legends, Palpatine’s clone body couldn’t handle so much dark side power, and this is why he looked like a corpse in the film: if this is his one-and-only perfect clone body, then its probably been wasting away since day one, and even if he’s been able to keep transferring his body, its clear that this is not a long-term solution, unlike in Legends, where Palpatine was fine with transferring his essence to fresh clones until that plan was sabotaged by his supposedly-loyal underlings. Either way, with his body wasting away, Sidious needs to either transfer his power to his chosen vessel i.e. his granddaughter, Rey, or he needs both Rey and Kylo Ren so he can draw on their Force-bond (which is a whole other thing that I’m not even sure how to address in this review) to regenerate himself. Ultimately, he winds up nearly killing Rey and Ben Solo before Rey is able to redirect his Force Lightning back at him and cause him to destroy himself; his final defeat is one of the weaker aspects of the film, but I’ll get into that more in a bit. While Palpatine’s return was great, and can be made to fit with everything that has been leading up to Episode IX, there is no denying that at the end of the day Sidious’ inclusion will always feel like a messy addition at best, and empty fan service at worst.

Now, with that long-winded look at Palpatine out of the way, let’s move on to… a…different…Palpatine….who’s also a Skywalker…Rey, I mean Rey. Rey Palpatine is one of those base-breaking decisions that seem to be ever-present in Star Wars these days: some people feel that the evidence supports it, others feel that it’s a random pull for the sake of “subverting expectations”. Where do I stand? I think there is juuuust enough wiggle room within Episodes VII and VIII to leave it ambiguous enough for me to accept the answer. The biggest question I’ve seen is where the heck Palpatine’s son was this entire time, and I definitely think that that is an interesting story to be told, especially in regards as to whether or not he (and his wife, for that matter) were Force-sensitive. Me personally, I would have preferred it if Rey was the reincarnation of Anakin – being sent back to complete their task and bring balance to the Force. Some people also have issues with her rejecting her name and choosing to call herself a Skywalker but 1) at first, I honestly thought she was going to call herself Solo, just because Han was the first of the three she met and he seemed to have had the most influence on her (along with Luke) 2) I think the Hitler parallel is perfectly app here, most especially because Hitler was one of Lucas’ inspirations for Palpatine, and no one in their right mind would go around the galaxy with the last name that was equivalent to Hitler, regardless of how much good she did (for crying out loud, Leia was forced out of politics because the galaxy found out who her father was), so I don’t really have a problem with her changing it, and 3) with the Skywalker bloodline now (most likely) extinct, I think it’s good to have someone to carry that torch forward, along with the Jedi. As for her ultimate ending, well, that still remains to be seen. Rey Skywalker now has her own, orange lightsaber, and a brand-new galaxy to explore and rebuild. I’ve heard that Daisy Ridely is done with Star Wars, and while that makes me incredibly sad to hear since I really like the character, I can understand her decision to walk away from so much toxicity. Besides, I never thought that I would ever see an Episode VII, let alone be writing a review for Episode IX so who knows? All ways in motion is the future.

Now, lets move from one Skywalker to another, or rather, a Solo. I believed that Kylo Ren was irredeemable, after murdering his father and clearly trying to kill his uncle. I believed that the Skywalker legacy would be one of failure, and it was another problem that I had with the Sequel Trilogy as a whole, which flew in the face of both in the belief in redemption as well as Skywalker legacy of Legends. Thankfully, I can say that I was completely mistaken; while Kylo does have to pay with his life, he ultimately redeems both himself and his family in a very beautiful way. It starts after he and Rey engage in yet another battle, only for her to impale him with her lightsaber; Rey quickly uses the Force to heal and save Kylo, who is left stunned at both his brush with death and his salvation coming from someone he has been trying to kill for months. Kylo then has an internal discussion with a mental projection of Han where they repeat the dialogue leading up to Han’s death only this time, Ben does reject the darkness and discards his Sith saber. After rushing to aid Rey in her confrontation with the Emperor (which involves Ben completely destroying the Knights of Ren), Ben is unable to prevent Rey from dying while defeating Sidious, but after tapping into the Force, he is able to bring Rey back long enough for them to share a kiss before becoming one with the Force himself.

Ben’s sacrifice is one of the best moments of the film and one of the extremely few ways it ties into the wider saga. Anakin fell to the dark side because he was afraid of losing Padme, which ultimately he did because of his anger and lust for power. His grandson, despite making many of the same mistakes as him, is able to do what Anakin wanted most in the entire galaxy: to save the one’s he loves. It does come at a price, namely that to bring someone back, someone else has to give up their own life-force, but it still brings us full circle in a very nice way that parallels Anakin’s journey. It also helps that in doing so, he helps redeem the Skywalker name by passing the torch so to speak and helping undo some of the damage he caused by aiding the Sith and the First Order. Ben’s redemption is one of the strongest moments of Episode IX, and it makes me a little sad that we wont get to see more of him in the future.

So, now that we’ve gotten most of the important stuff covered, lets move on to some nitpicks before we look at the film as a whole as well as the Sequel Trilogy. The biggest wasted potential in this film to me was the Knights of Ren and, by extension, Luke’s Jedi Order. Ever since Episode VII, we’ve had only the most tantalizing hints about this dark side order, and when they finally appear on the big screen, it’s to stand around looking intimidating before getting slaughtered by Ben on his way to join Rey in confronting Palpatine. We no exactly zero about them, what their philosophy is, how they differ from Sith or why they decided to join Ben when he fell and turned against his uncle; maybe those that joined him were so appalled by Luke’s attempted murder that they cast off the identity of Jedi completely. The point is we don’t know anything about them, nor do we ever learn anything about Luke’s Order and how it differed from the old Jedi Order; from what I can gather it seems that Luke recreated the old Order nearly exactly rather than improving on it like he did in Legends, and I can’t exactly blame some people from going nuts after joining a religious extremist group.

Just like with Phasma and Snoke, the Knights of Ren and Luke’s Jedi are treated as an afterthought, an interesting idea that other media can talk about, but the movies cant be bothered with, and that is not only frustrating, but poor writing as well; and I know that all of these have a parallels with stuff from the Original Trilogy and the Prequels as well, but that just leads me to the jagged bedrock of my complaint: not learning from past mistakes, and just shrugging shoulders and saying “good enough, let someone else fill in the details.” The same also holds true for the final battle of the film; compared to the space battles of Episode III and VI, the one here is again, treated as almost an afterthought – something that needs to be there, but only serves as a backdrop to what’s going on with Palpatine. This battle includes fleets, ships and troops in almost never before seen numbers, and yet we only get a few snippets of action and shots here and there; when the reinforcements arrive, they fill out the screen, but none of them do anything special, or memorable or impressive. They go through all that trouble of having such an immense fleet, only for 95-99% of the action take place off screen. As with Palpatine’s defeat, the massive fleet had great build-up and potential, but fizzled out rather than concluding with a bang.

Speaking of the final battle, lets talk about the other half of that coin and its own lackluster finish. We’ve already gone over how Palpatine is defeated, but what I and so many other fans lamented was that no Force ghosts appeared, only spoke to Rey, and that the one appearance that would have really worked and helped give the film that sense of finality that it’s been claiming to represent, would have been an appearance by Anakin Skywalker. Seeing Anakin again after a decade-and-a-half since Episode III would have been incredible, given hardcore fans something special, and made sense within the story. We do hear him speak directly to Rey, but I have to wonder if either J.J. didn’t want to do it so as to keep the focus on Rey and her purpose/identity as All-the-Jedi-In-One, or maybe Hayden decided he didn’t want do it (and I cant say I blame him, after how toxic members of this Fandom treated him), but having three actors and characters from each of the three eras would have been a treat for everyone, and it’s yet another misstep that the film made.

So, overall, how do I feel about Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker? While I can appreciate everything that we got and how much it seems like they really wanted to repair the damage The Last Jedi did to the fanbase, I cant help but wonder at what could have been: what if the trilogy had been planned out from the start, or at least handled by one unifying creative director? Either way, it seems like what really hurt this trilogy was lack of direction and having to play catch-up when you only have half the pieces of the puzzle. In turns of the grand culmination of the Skywalker Saga…it’s not; it’s a satisfying conclusion to its own trilogy of stories, but in terms of being the grand culmination of forty years worth of stories, it just isn’t. If it was, it would have been treated that way and actually tied more of the three trilogies together instead of relying on nostalgia to round out the story the same way it began with Episode VII. I know this sounds like I didn’t like the movie, but I did: when I left the theater I was pleased with what I had just seen, and excited to see where the future was going to take these characters (well, mostly Rey, but that’s because Poe is barely involved in the story and poor Finn gets almost nothing to do – I heard how his entire character has been distilled into “the guy who shouts ‘whoo!’”, which is entirely apt and correct and yet another major misstep with this series since we finally have a character that was a former stormtooper, and they do nothing with him). While there are currently no plans for future films with these characters, there was a time when we all thought we would never, ever ever, ever see an Episode VII either, so I hold out hope that someday, these characters will return to pass the torch off to the next generation someday.

Final Score: 7.5/10

*Bonus*

My Star Wars 11 Films Rankings

Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: Rogue One

Star Wars: Solo

Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace

#star wars #star wars canon #star wars 9 #rise of skywalker #rise of skywaker spoilers

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rubyinasnuggie · 6 years ago

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Rosegarden Week Day 4 - Partners

The ground came up to meet Oscar at an alarming rate. Any possible landing strategies he had thought of before were long gone.

It took several minutes to free himself from the rose bushes he had landed in. He was relieved he remembered to activate his aura, and he was thankful the bushes weren’t particularly thorny.

“In what world is it okay to launch a sixteen year old off a cliff?” Oscar asked. He brushed off his combat gear and stretched out his arms. He looked around, wondering if anyone had landed near him. Unfortunately, (fortunately?) there was no one in view. His stomach had twisted itself into a knot when Glynda had informed the future hunters that the first person they saw after landing would be their partner. The knot only tightened now that he realized he would have to go find someone.

As he began to jog, he thought through the people he had met the night before.

Iris had seemed friendly. She had ruffled his hair and complimented him on having the skills to be invited to school early. But that didn’t necessarily mean she wanted to be partners with a fifteen year old.

I’ll be sixteen in May, that’s only three months away. Oscar thought, defensive even though no one was attacking him. He sighed. No one wants to be partners with a sixteen year old either.

There was another guy, a faunus named Hyacinth, who had invited Oscar to come sit with him and his friends. But it seemed like he was aiming to be partners with a boy named Poppy.

The only other person who had even spoken to Oscar was a quiet girl with short dark hair and silver eyes. Oscar recalled her adorable giggle when he stumbled into the corner where she had cooped herself up.

When he admitted he just wanted to find a quiet spot to read, she had asked him about the book he was wanting to read. He showed her, and she seemed interested. But then she gave him a polite smile and stood, allowing him to hide away in the corner.

Oscar secretly wished she hadn’t left.

He slowed his pace, despair slowly taking over him.

Why would she, or anybody else, want to be his partner? He was nobody, a dumb little farm boy from the middle of nowhere. He wasn’t even sure if he was qualified to be here or not, it’s not like he had actually passed any exams.

The negative energy was radiating off of him, catching the attention of all nearby Grimm.

When Oscar opened his eyes, reluctantly prepared to continue his search, a huge beowulf towered before him, snarling. It stared at him with its ugly yellow eyes. Oscar tried to take deep breaths, hoping if he calmed himself down enough then it wouldn’t attack.

His efforts were pointless, and the grimm lunged at him.

His only instinct was to cower. Even in those final moments, he berated himself for his cowardice. He had a weapon literally strapped to his waist, why wasn’t his instinct to grab it?? It’s not like he had never fought off a grimm before. He was almost so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn’t notice the attack never came.

Trembling, he finally looked up to see a shock of red standing above the beowulf. The hooded figure pulled her weapon--a large, terrifying scythe--out of the disintegrating beowulf.

The figure turned to him and pulled down her hood. The sweet girl from the night before shook out her dark hair, silver eyes just as dazzling as ever. “Are you okay?”

Oscar looked down at the beowulf and nodded slowly.

“So I guess we’re partners. Your name is Oscar, right?”

After a beat, he realized he was supposed to respond. He nodded quickly. “Yes! Yeah, I’m Oscar.”

“I’m Ruby,” she smiled.

xxx

This is an AU where Oscar was the one enrolled early at Beacon, meanwhile Ruby is a regular 17 year old student. For the purposes of this, the Fall of Beacon and all of the Roman Torchwick/Cinder Fall plots haven’t taken place yet

#rosegarden #rosegarden week 2019 #rosegarden week #rosepine #ruby rose #Rooster Teeth #Oscar Pine #oscar #Team RWBY #team #partners #fanfiction #au #ozpin #rwby

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calliecat93 · 5 years ago

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Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 5

(Top 5 Dislikes)

As I said in the Dislikes post, this volume is probably the most hated so far. Which is a real shame. Yes, there are legit problems with it, but that doesn’t mean that there was nothing good at all. There was a lot of good in this volume and I don’t find it fair to just brush it into the same pile along with the bad stuff. So let’s talk about some of those good things with my Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 5~!

#5. Weiss is Best Girl

Weiss was the best character in this volume, honestly. While she doesn’t get as much stuff as Blake or Yang, she still got enough screentime and things to do that I was happy. She got it better than Ruby, at least. He successfully escaped Atlas. She defeated an entire horde of Lancers. She’s perfected her Summon enough to use it in combat. She survived a plane crash. She wasn’t intimidated by the Branwen Tribe. She would have escaped if Yang hadn’t appeared, and even then that just meant she couldn’t use stealth. She called Raven obnoxious. While people complain bout her relying on her Summoning too much, she did a fairly good job of holding her own against Vernal. And once Jaune restored her Aura? She went right back to thrashing with her Queen Lancer Summon.

Weiss is the queen. But even so, we see a lot of her maturity in this volume. In the first two episodes, she wants to help the people being attacked by Grimm, but can’t cause it’ll give her away But when they stumble upon it in CHapter 2? Screw doing nothing! Weiss is a Huntress, ad she proves that she’s dedicated to that task there and then. But the best scene, of course, si when she talks to Yang in Chapter 8. Yang is correct that Weiss doesn’t know what it’s like for people to just leave without a word, but she does understand not having support from loved ones. Even with her large family, it fractured and split apart, and she was truly alone. She gets Yang to understand that Blake had reasons for leaving and that she will come back, and when she does then the best that they can do si give her support.

Not only does this help Yang cool down enough to be willing to let Blake back into the group, but it shows how much that Weiss has grown. This isn’t “The innocent don’t run, Yang” Weiss from Volume 1. Team RWBY became her new family, and she cares about all three of them more than either her brother or father cared about her. She doesn’t want to see another family fracture and her left to endure the fallout. Weiss understands why Blake did what she did, and believes that she will come back. And she’s willing to support her, as well as Yang. It’ one of the volumes best moments and really shows how much that Weiss has grown. She was such a great part of this volume all the way through, and this proves it.

#4. The Menagerie Plotline

While the Blake Plotline in V4 was not a favorite of mine, this one? This was what redeemed Blake for me. She’s done with running and is ready to face the White Fang, and in turn Adam, head-on at Haven. But, of course, she can’t do it alone. Their best chance is to get the citizens of Menagerie to help… but they’re not so willing. Not only because they’ll be risking their lives, but because they’ll be helping the humans. Humans who either hurt them or did nothing to stop it in their eyes. Ilia’s interference where she points out exactly how horrible their mistreatment had been did not help. But still, Blake was going to try.

We see a lot of Blake’s growth here. As I said, she’s not running anymore, but that’s not all fo it. She talks to Sun about Adam and if V3 hasn’t been enough, it and V5 Chapter 2 make Adam’s spiteful nature very clear and only makes it even more clear why Blake left when she did. She knows that Ilia is heading towards the same fate, but there’s still hope, and she wants to save her friend even if Ilia doesn’t want it. Ilia isn’t a bad person. She has noble intentions and we see that she still feels guilt and uncertainty in what she’s doing. She doesn’t want to hurt the Belladonna’s. She has to justify Sienna’s assassination as necessary for the betterment of the Faunus. She tries to get Blake to leave while there’s still time. She had the chance to hurt her in the Blake Trailer, but in the end, she couldn’t do it. She outright says that she hates hurting people, but in her mind, it’s the only way to get results.

Ilia is what I think that certain fans thought that Adam was. While Adam truly only serves himself and was beyond the point of return, Ilia did genuinely want to make Faunus lives better. She could have passed as a human if she had really wanted to, but she didn’t. She wore her Faunus status on her sleeve and was genuine in trying to improve their lives sot hat no one else died in a Dust Mine like her parents did. But she felt like the only way was to use fear and violence because otherwise no one did anything but stand around and let it happen. But she knew that it was wrong and she was still hesitant. Which Blake knew. She knew that there was still a chance before Ilia became another Adam, and she was going to help her before it was too late.

Indeed, it all leads to their fight in Chapter 10. It’s a really good fight all things considered, even if Blake burned down her own house… I wonder if they ever got that put out before they left Menagerie… but indeed, Blake tackles down Ilia, points out to her how there’s always another choice, and asks the million-dollar question: would Ilia’s parents want her to live like this? Ilia can only tearfully snap back that he doesn’t know what to do before all fo her resolve breaks then and there. After that, Blake’s words and Ghira saving her life finally pushes Ilia to make her choice. he stops Corsic (I think) in his tracks and finally breaks down.

After all of this, what does Blake do She steps up before the entirety of Menagerie. She points out that all the current chaos? They did it. Not the humans. Them. The White Fang is making people afraid and setting a bad example for the Faunus while they do nothing to contradict it. Blake has no answers on how they can truly achieve equality, but she does know that they can be better. They can show humanity that they aren’t like the White Fang by going to Haven and standing up against them. By standing alongside humans. And the first person to stand up and say that they’ll fight with her? Ilia. The girl who previously called the Belladonna’s traitors for this notion is now taking another choice. And this gets everyone else, everyone who was previously afraid to do so, rise up and all claim that they will go as well.

Indeed, Blake and the Faunus arrive at Haven and stop the White Fang. Blake faces Adam with no hint of fear. She rightfully knocks him into the ground, but that’s just the icing on the case. No, when Adam tries all of his little manipulative tactics on her, it fails. He tries to talk her down. She doesn’t budge. He thinks that he’s just going to run again. She doesn’t. Hell, she outright tells him that she is there for Haven, not him. He doesn’t matter to her anymore. Unlike Adam, Blake has friends and allies all around her while everyone that Adam had has either been arrested or walked out on him. Blake has better things t deal with, and thus this time, it’s Adam who runs. With this act, he made the White Fang turn on him, and now he’s the one running away. All while Blake is reunited with her team, this time having no intention of leaving and ready to repair the damage.

...okay I didn’t mean to go full-on analysis there, but the short version is I loved this plotline. Ilia’s a really good character who is very sympathetic and who you want to see do the right thing. And she does! Blake here is freakin’ fantastic in every way, and I love how far she’s come. Sun was great. Kali and Ghira were great. Adam having everything fall apart around him and it being entirely his own fault was great. Him running away was very satisfying. Everything was great~! Maybe some of the execution could have been a little tighter, but I don’t care. I loved this plot and I love Blake Belladonna.

#3. Spring vs Fall

I’m gonna lie, they totally fooled me about the Spring Maiden. I truly believed that it really was Vernal. Mainly because we saw her using her powers at least twice. We didn’t see Raven do anything, so how could it be her? They played us all like a damn fiddle. She wore her mask to hide the magic eye effect. Vernal was a Spring-inspired name, so those of us who like to look up stuff would just think that it cemented things even more. Raven was a good enough actress and liar to sell that Vernal was the Maiden without hinting at all that it may be her. She not only fooled Cinder, but she fooled Qrow. They framed things just enough to make it look like Vernal, like in Chapter 4 with the lightning where you see Vernal lowering her arm and, of course, her shouting ‘Enough!’. Or Raven telling Vernal to not use her power on Weiss, just to keep it up and have a reason for why Vernal doesn’t go full-on Maiden and since she’s a Bandit who would have years of combat experience, none of us would question it. Plus there was the earlier backstory, further pointing it at Vernal.

They had a well-crafted charade going, and CRWBY executed it perfectly. But of course, Cinder finds out when she fails to get the power out of Vernal. But due to it, we get by far the best fight int he entire volume. Say what you want about the Battle of Haven, but this fight they executed perfectly. It’s the first Maiden vs Maiden brawl and has two very strong and capable fighters duking it out. It is a true visual spectacle. And unlike all of her previous fights, Cinder isn’t confident or smug. Raven can match her. In fact, Raven is stronger, more experienced, and much smarter than her. Once again, Cinder is made to feel powerless and brought down from her high just as Ruby did in Volume 3. And you can just feel the hate radiating off of CInder due to ti, especially when she tells Raven to shut up when she mocks her near the end.

But indeed, Cinder loses. She muddied up their plan just to get a shot at the Maiden powers and for Ruby to get some damage since she’s not allowed to kill her. Raven overpowered her. Outwitted her. And it ended with Cinder getting thrown over the ledge, frozen, and sent into the abyss below. Yeah, we know that she survives, but it as still quite the beatdown. One that she brought onto herself because of her thirst for power.

The fight was just great. The whole Spring Maiden plot was great. They did such a great job with o many little details to sell the ploy to us, and we bought it! It’s why I can’t call Volume 5 bad. We have stuff like this that just gets swept aside, and that’s wrong Good writing should never be brushed aside just because we don’t like every other plotline. This on they did very well, and they deserve praise for it. I really enjoyed the plot and of course, the Maiden brawl. Although the final fate of the actual Spring Maiden is… dark. That isn’t a bad thing, it perfectly aligns with Raven’s character. Speaking of which...

#2. The Yang and Raven Storyline

I’m gonna be honest. I don’t like Raven. Not because of bad writing, Raven is very well-written. I just hate her as a person. V4 already gave me a bad impression, but this one… ho boy. She’s emotionally manipulative of Yang and pretty much dismissed her when it was clear that Yang had no intention of joining her. She made a jab about family only showing up when they want something, which we all remember V4. She had zero problems with setting it up so that her brother could get killed just because he knew about Spring. Even if it was just to have a diversion to get the Relic, she still put her brother and daughter in harm’s way just for her own needs. And let’s not forget how she destroyed Shion, which knowing that she’s the Spring Maiden make sit even worst, and had no remorse in how any people got killed by them or the Grimm.

Raven’s a bad person and an even worst mother. And she knows it. She knows that abandoning Tai and Yang was bad. She knows that she’s selfish and hypocritical. She knows that murdering a young girl for her power was horrible. But in her mind, she’s doing what is necessary to survive. She justifies her actions as being strong. After all, the strong survive. She justifies killing Spring as mercy because she wouldn’t last in the world and her powers made her a target. She has this persona of a strong, clever warrior and leader, but that’ what it is. A persona. In truth, it’s all excuses to cover up how she’s really a scared young woman. Why? Because she’s afraid of Salem and like with Leo, feels that there is no beating her, so why try?

You know who is strong though? Yang. This girl lost her arm and is still suffering for it. Yet she got back up and went after Ruby. She finally meets the mother who abandoned her and uses her to get to Ruby and Qrow, her real family. She’s understandably angry about Blake still, but she actually listens to Weiss and starts to work through those emotions. She doesn’t just go rampaging in at the enemy, she finds other ways around a problem as Tai taught her. She doesn’t even use her Semblance at all because she doesn’t need to. She’s thinking smart and not wasting energy or taking attacks that she doesn’t need to take. We really see how much she’s grown as a fighter and see her evolve as a person. Despite all that happened to her, she still went to Haven. He still fought by her friends’ sides. She still went down into the Vault, and faced her mother.

Watching Yang call out Raven on all of her bullshit was immensely satisfying. Earlier, Raven planted doubt about Oz and the world in Yang’s mind and told her to as questions. Now this in itself was actually a good thing since it meant that Yang was actually wondering about things and didn’t just follow orders. Oz has done dubious things and as V6 showed, he does lie and manipulate. Raven pointing that out was good… she just didn’t expect Yang to also question her. Raven painted the bird thing as being forced on them, but Qrow made it clear that wasn’t the case. Raven kept trying to convince Yang to join her, acting cold towards her when her gestures were rejected. She feels like she should be Yang’s mom still, despite abandoning them, never being there despite being able to freely go there and back whenever she wanted, and just acting pretty shitty to her when they do finally meet. She was justified in leaving Ozpin. She wasn’t justified in turning her back on her family.

What Raven had done wasn’t strength. It doesn’t matter how many times she faced death, it doesn’t excuse murdering Spring due to her warped view of the world. She uses people. She abandons people. She puts people in danger to get what she wants. Everything that she does is self-serving. Even if she regrets it, she still did it. She may have been remorseful about Vernal, but she still used her just to protect herself. She wants to avid Salem, but took the Maiden powers and tried to take the Relic. But most of all, in the end, Yang points out how Raven will be a target if she takes the Relic. So she can either do it and re-enter the conflict that she claims to want no part of, or she can let Yang do it and put the target on herself. Raven weakly tells her that she doesn’t have to, but otherwise? She tearfully says that she’s sorry… and teleports away. In the end, despite knowing that Yang is right about everything, Raven once again chooses her own self-interest. Her own survival. She lets Yang take the fall, and abandons her once more.

Yang knows it too, taking the Relic and then breaking down. She spent so long wanting to meet her mother. Even if Ruby was her primary concern, I do think that she legit wanted to finally find Raven and get to know her. To see if she was the woman that her father described to her. But that Raven was dead. Qrow told her about Raven’s twisted world view, and it was proven true. I believe that Raven doe slove Yang, but in the end, she’s too stuck in her ways and in her own cowardice. She ran, but Yang stayed She was trembling, but she stood firm against Raven and called out her skewed view of strength. She may be powerful, but she isn’t strong. Yang was scared, yet she still made it to where she was. She was standing there. She took the Relic, fully aware that there was no turning away when she did. This arc showed why Yang is such ana amazing character and while it ended poorly with her mother, she has a family who loves her. And while one person left again, another came back.

On that note…

#1. The Team RWBY Reunions

The last time that we saw Team RWBY on-screen together was in Volume 3, Chapter 12. In it Yang was dismembered, Blake was a broken mess, and only Ruby and Weiss were left standing. After Ruby and Weiss ran in Beacon, that was it. The only time any of the members are together in some form is when Ruby went to see Yang after waking up. Yang was broken and could only tell Ruby that Weiss and blake were gone, and she just wanted to be left alone. That chapter was in February of 2016. V5 began in October of 2017. We hadn’t seen Team RWBY together in over a year and a half, and the last time was them at their darkest hour.

Fortunately, that wait ended here.

In Volume 4, we watched the girls overcome their hardships and set off on their new paths. RUby to save Haven. Weiss to escape her father. Blake to take back the White Fang. Yang to find Ruby. And they succeeded. Ruby made it to Mistral, and int he end did save Haven. Weiss got away and while she was too late to reunite with Winter, she still made it out. Blake stopped the White Fang from destroying Haven and re-ignited the Faunus on a more peaceful path. Yang found Ruby and held her own despite her PTSD. They all succeeded in their separate goals, but we still wanted them back together. And fortunately, we got three beautiful reunion scenes.

We had the Freezerburn reunion, where Weiss is just so relieved to finally see the face of someone that she cares about. The second that the Bandits backed off and Weiss jut threw herself at Yang and is clearly tearful as she tells Yang how much she missed her… it both breaks and warms your heart. Then we get their reunion with Ruby. One where Ruby drops everything (literally) and immediately begins to break down as she tries to apologize to Yang for leaving her. She thought that Yang didn’t want her around, and considering Yang’s last onscreen words to her were “Just leave me alone”, can you blame her? Yang’s response this time? To hug her tight and tell her that she loves her. Finally responding back after their not so happy final talk in V3. If that wasn’t sweet enough, they immediately open their arms to invite Weiss in, considering her to be their sister just as much as they do each other. Weiss tearfully, but happily, run into their arms and you’re crying right along with her. They are just such beautiful scenes and very much worth the payoff.

But it’s still an incomplete set, so let’s fix that.

Blake had no idea that RWY would be at Haven and seeing them, of course, shocks her. Seeing Yang back up and actually okay shocked. She didn’t have a lot of time to take it in yet though, having to deal with Adam. But after that? She jumps into the fray to help Ruby and Weiss and while we, unfortunately, don’t get to see the fight, they’re as sharp and coordinated as ever. Then the fight is over. The White Fang is dealt with. Her family and Ilia have that part covered. Sun yanks Blake towards the others, wordlessly gesturing her to walk forward and go back to her team. Her friends. We see her take in a breath before facing the three girls that she left behind. She’s clearly not sure what to say or do, but when RUby says that why they’re there is one of life’s great mysteries is a long story, Blake says that she’s not going anywhere. Ruby and Weiss are ready to accept her back, but they turn to Yang for her response. Ruby said that them being together was all that mattered… and sure enough, Yang smiles, nods, and agrees. That was the moment that Blake knew that while there was plenty to answer for still, she wasn’t going to be rejected for it. Yan saw that Blake came back so even if her mom left her again, Blake wouldn’t. Weiss opens up for arm as the sisters did for her before. Blake happily kneels down to join in. All as All That Matters plays in the background.

At that point, V3 was on the verge of becoming two years old. Last time the girls were together, they were broken and torn apart. Now? They grew. They healed. They somehow found a way back to each other. They all lost so much and endured so much, but somehow, despite all of it, there they were. Together once again. That group hug is one of my favorite RWBY moments of all time and still makes me tearful now. It’s why I will never hate this volume. That scene where they hug and are just so happy and relieved to be together… how the Hell could I hate that? I can’t. Every reunion was beautifully done, especially the final one. It was a perfect payoff to the split plotlines and everyone’s arc, and it will always be what I treasure most about this volume.

V5 gets hated. A lot. But there is value in it. A lot of value. So no, I refuse to hate it. I don’t hate any volume and have yet to hate any volume. I hope that I was able to show some of the good parts of it. But with that done, five volumes down. One to go. Two more posts to do folks. We are in the home-stretch people. Let’s see if I can make it to home-base now.

#rwby #rwby reviews #top likes/dislikes

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aveaveria · 6 years ago

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Mekkah on Ao3 asked about some SlaDick fic recommendations (then @gravesecret make sure to check out their art did as well). And I’m here to deliver.

Klarion’s Curse by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly

Slade hunted the wrong witch, and gets an interesting curse.

I love this one, it got me into the ship and it has so much DC lore in it! ilyena_sylph and Merfilly originally wrote it back in 2006/2007, it’s a blast full with pre-N52 canon. When I read it for the first time the DCU was like a strange new world I had only just stumbled into and it did not matter that I only understood half of it after my first read. This fic (and the creators’ other works) is one of the reasons I learned to love the DCU lore, especially the small things, the things canon likes to ignore. Additionally, the fic has a unique SlaDick dynamic and Dinah is a fun and refreshing support character.

Waiting To Be Claimed by firewolfsg

Deathstroke is unexpectedly offered custody of a depressed and lost Dick Grayson, and the two make some interesting discoveries as they plan for the future.

Fic Setting: Takes place a couple of months after Nightwing #100 and is an AU where Dick does *not* join the mob.

Written October 2005

Together with Clarion’s Curse, this is the fanfiction that pretty much defines how I view Slade’ and Dick’s relationship. It basically is what it says on the tin plus some surprising boners, ya know. There’s just a certain type of magic in old works like this, that make the relationships ring true, which is partially due to the different canon and partially due to a certain type of nostalgia. After all, what can beat “the good old days”? What can beat the magic moment of falling in love with something new?

In The Shadow Of The Bat by meyari [Trigger Warning: Slavery]

The secret sale of Bruce Wayne's slave Jason Todd to Slade Wilson set off a series of events that changed everything for everyone who lived in the shadow of the Bat. Fortunately for them, Slade wasn't the man that they'd been trained to think he was.

No story is for everyone and in this case, we dive a bit deeper into the morally dubious decent that is SlaDick. Despite the slavery theme, the story is tame. In the end, it is much more a story about choosing roles than it is about being forced into one.

That LiveJournal Fic No Search Engine Wants To Admit Hides In the Depths Of The Internet

There was that one story in which Slade and Dick hit it off and Adeline warned Dick not to fall for him, which ended with Slade and Dick having you-know-what in front of the mirror. But for the life of me, I can’t find it anymore.

Dark Origins by coldfiredragon [no romantic relationship]

A/U, what if Slade Wilson, rather than Bruce Wayne found and raised Dick Grayson?

This is a cheater but I love it too much to leave it out. Especially A Mother’s Decision. I’d die for that part. Additionally, it has some good Roy/Dick in it and beautifully retells Dick’s former canon through AU fanon lenses. As a rule of thumb: Definitely check out LiveJournal if you crave more &s and /s to your SlaDick stuff.

The Sensation of Falling by rocket_dreaming3D [Trigger Warning: Rape/Non-Con]

Dick decides to start down his own path as the vigilante Nightwing after a powerful falling out with his adoptive father Bruce Wayne (aka Batman). Dealing with heavy emotional issues he hunts down the mercenary known as Deathstroke (Slade Wilson), searching for either proof of his worth or a way to end it all. What happens when he finds that there are more layers to the merc than he'd ever seen in his time as the Boy Wonder, Robin?

The first ongoing of this ship I ever read. Let’s just say this: It is an Injustice AU, Deadpool is Slade’s brother, Killer Frost is the best friend Dick ever had. It’s hilarious in that “feels-like-sunshine” way, despite the warnings.

Yonder Heart and Somber Lover by overratedantihero

Dick's taken from his father's garden to join Slade in Hades, the realm of the dead. A retelling of the Abduction of Persephone.

Persephone is the perfect myth for SlaDick and orah has such extensive knowledge of Greek mythology, that the story flows nicely in a way that is all greek tragedy mixed with DC, which brings me back to the nostalgia I have mentioned before, only that this fic is so very modern despite it.

What No Man Wants to Lose by Firefright, Skalidra

Getting a call from Slade's new team, Defiance, saying that they need his help in rescuing Slade is not the call that Dick expected to get on a random Tuesday morning. But rescuing is what he does, especially when it's a team of young heroes asking. The fact that it's Slade in need of rescuing? Well, that's different, but it doesn't change anything.

Firefright and Skalidra are going all out with both recent comic canon and fanon in this one. An established relationship is always fun to explore with this pairing and if there is a real comic-y plot, even more so. It is basically a shippy love letter to Priest’s Deathstroke run.

There’s Magic in You by TimmyJaybird [Trigger Warning: Cannibalism]

Dick has a pension for nightmares, for the creatures that stalk the nights in tales that should have lulled him to sleep as a boy. Now, face to face with a beast straight from fairy tales, he's shockingly at ease with the knowledge that this could be his end... if the beast wills it.

A dark re-telling of Red Riding Hood with a witchy twist because even as a human eating werewolf Slade cannot quite instill fear into Dick. It gets hot pretty fast, and gross, pretty gross. Check out her other works if you are in need of transgender/ftm!Dick.

Stars and Cinders-Series by victoriousscarf

Bruce Wayne makes a really awful Jedi. His padawans are not much better. That Batman Star Wars AU no one asked for.

The package makes the deal here and you should definitely not only look into this for the pairing but for the world that victoriousscarf built. There is rape in one part of the series, so be mindful of the tags.

Blood and Iron by Zillabird

The War has been going on since Dick wasn't much bigger than his adoptive father's knee.

Dick had done a lot of things he's not proud of in search of an end to the bloodshed. Things that give the turncoat orc, Slade, every reason to dislike him. Not that Slade's hands are clean, not even close. That's why he's here at Lord Wayne's camp under the watchful eye of the man's eldest. Waiting patiently for the chance to get his revenge. Secrets are so embroiled in this world they are forged into the very steel that the armies fight with, and they may be the reason that Slade loses the chance to start a new life. One with the half-elf healer that he's fallen for in Lord Wayne's camp.

584 Days is the fic that everyone knows but this one should be loved just as much.

I’ve kept my recommended to one story per author because otherwise, the list would explode but generally speaking: If you liked one of the author’s stories, it is worth checking out more of their stuff.

That being said, I hope you enjoy reading the recs!

(Header: http://ao3commentoftheday.tumblr.com/post/173752189329/want-to-make-a-fic-rec-post-grab-yourself-a)

#sladick #fic rec #thereisstilllight #victoriousscarf #zillabird #firefrightfic #skalidra #firewolfsg #cldfiredrgn #ilyena-sylph

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sokumotanaka · 6 years ago

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Last train home: An ode to Rwby

It’s over...it’s finally over.

Prepare for a long and tired final post.

Look, let me say this;

RWBY volume 6 is a mess and I think that's the most charitable thing I can say after spending several years of being invested in it’s crumbling world.

Maybe it was laziness, rushed or sheer incompetence that made this season crumble, so in my final review on rwby as a whole I may have to do some guess work at points; and after several wasted years, I’m not in a position from this point on to be charitable.

I gotta tell you, volume 6 tricked me, hell from what I seen it tricked alot of us, it started off good, we learned thing we should of learned volumes ago. But then I soon realized that this volume was; damage control. We learn of ozpin origins with salem only to not get to absorb it cause we soon learn through obvious reasons that maria was a silver eyed warrior and when ruby finally starts training, we meet one of jaune’s sisters, also pyrrha’s statue is there, but also neo is back, but so is adam and cinder, also mercury has no semblance, tyrian has a new tail-

see what I mean? before you could absorb one thing, two more pop up in its place and there’s such a lack in structure in the world, characters, their growth, development and their dimensions. The magic and power system that rwby has is just a mess that gets increasingly worse as it progresses, they take one step forward only to stumble several feet back and fall on their ass. And maybe one of the problem is I listen to writers commentary; to someone who doesn’t they won’t see as many problems as I do with the series, but when you actually listen to it you see the many problems it has with how this series is handled.

A reboot is at this point completely necessary and needed for this series to make even a semblance of sense. Semblance, Aura and Dust are so poorly handled and explained that they changed at several points to the point of being contrived.

Semblance was originally something you could use when your aura was completely depleted before requiring aura to use.

Except when it’s not but also when it can be, it changes at the drop of a hat, we see yang use her semblance with no aura in her vol 5 trailer, then sun in vol 4 loses his semblance when his aura is depleted.

despite miles changing it almost instantly afterwards...

When I started rwby I was optimistic it could be a great show probably not spectacular or amazing but great, and while it had it’s flaws and potholes at the time they were relatively small at first, but they just kept growing and more issues popped up and...christ if you like rwby and notice it’s flaws that’s fine, but I can’t say the same for people who outright ignore the flaws people critiquing the series bring up to get mad and preach about how only positive criticism can save the show.

Look as a person who started off with positive criticism I’m not saying it has no place, but you also can’t say critics be it negative from your perspective, is objectively bad or unneeded. Sometimes a firm but fair hand is needed.

Ruby’s issues are like a small flame building up, you can close your eyes and ignore the problem but sooner or later if something’s not done your house is gonna be completely on fire, and you don’t know how that may affect your surroundings, for all you know ignoring the issue caused the trees behind your house to catch fire, maybe one toppled over and landed on a neighboring house and now it’s spreading. The bottom line is weather you can get past the issue to find the things you like isn’t the problem, it’s ignoring them in the first place, if you aren’t willing to help something growth and change for the better with non rose tinted criticism then you’re not offering any help at all, you’re hindering it because you yourself refuse to change and that can be just as harmful if not worse to coddle something.

Rwby increasingly became more unhinged as a series, the flaws turned into overlapping problems, this went from a world that felt had love and care crafted into it to a plot and world with more holes than swiss cheese, which is why so many people felt disappointed and rightfully annoyed, could you sit there and tell me if I made a series and told you one thing yet showed you another only to tell you “yeah that’s not what I meant.” in post that you wouldn’t feel even the slightest bit of cheated, lied to or had your time wasted? If not do I have a camel to sell you among other things!

As a person who sat through so many lovely crafted media; I sat through paper mario and it’s whimsical tale, I watched avatar and fell in love with it’s amazing characters, world building and music, same goes for things like steven universe, final fantasy 6 (a game ironically about togetherness) ff9, the persona series, hunter x hunter, soul eater, gravity falls, Disney flicks, the dragon age series every super giant game, all these and more were handled with so much love and care and hold their structure throughout.

I. LOVE. MEDIA.

I spend most of my time absorbed in their stories worlds and characters, laughing and crying and growing with them to the point I studied it, twice to get two separate degrees in it because I wanted to write at a time. So when I critique rwby, call out it’s flaws and so on, it’s not a personal attack on you if you like it, but I also can’t be satisfied with where the series has gone, not because it’s not ‘my’ take but because I enjoy narrative flow, I find interest in the characters if the plot isn’t too good and vise versa, media can touch on so many amazing things and I felt at a time...that miles and kerry could do well if they tried, if they applied themselves, before becoming such mean spirited, greedy and unwilling people, and this was long before I came into the picture, long before rwde no matter how much you disagree or what to place blame.

Cause trust me I seen rwby stans (fans unwilling to hear criticism out and will display many hypocritical and messed up tendencies over a cartoon) not only ignore issues, tell people to kill themselves over a typed critique of a series they like, be irrational, sexist, racist or just plain stupid at times, you realize soon that the rwby tag is a cesspool of horrible people mixed in with a minuscule amount of fans willing to discuss the issues offer fixes and healthy non annoying chats on what they like and dislike.

Which confuses me as an individual cause I feel personally you can and should review rwby without threat of an anonymous person telling you to die over your opinion or one of the writers telling people to...enact physical violence on fans who don’t watch the supplemental material they hide, don’t promote to a casual audience and contradict and retcon on a constant basis. And sometimes it’s through a panel or a tweet, a casual rwby fan wouldn’t even catch unless they constantly follow the writers around or have someone dedicated enough to do so.

And all the stuff I mention and want isn’t impossible or asking too much honestly, I’d like the writers to be honest and fair to their fanbase, like anyone would, I’d like them to listen to actual critique and hire someone who can guide them so it doesn’t turn into one big “damage control” arc, The characters need more substance and need more screen time to grow as characters and fighters, when your fans excuse character growth with “Well animation is hard, not everything could be onscreen it could happen offscreen.” you have a problem, can you imagine ed just showing up with alphonse and it never being explained and I go “well animation is hard.” yeah that goes without saying but at the same time there are writers, creators and so on who get paid less, have smaller teams and sometimes just teams of two people to work hard on their craft, amazing teams with money, production and care like supergiant games get overlooked, so never EVER excuse jump cuts and lack of characterization, structure and development when better writers are out there busting their asses.

Do not be that guy.

*sigh* I been sitting here thinking how how I could end this, how after several years of a fast decline in quality, what’s something I could possibly leave this on? What can I say past this point? I been actually sitting in stunned silence trying to mull it over. I guess all I can say is, if you like rwby fair, fine, despite the major holes I discuss fixes with the series, I draw characters, try fixing the crumbling road of rwby trying hard to understand it, make no mistakes that when I critique it it’s not coming from a place of contempt for the series, but of disappointment in how far it’s fallen and how it could have been good if miles and kerry took the hand offered, it wouldn’t lead them down the most comfortable road, but they’d gain experience from it and could fix the series possibly for the better, and if you again like rwby, do not allow rose tinted goggles to blind you from the issues of the series, the ever growing problems with the series and the unwillingness for the writers to change and grow, do not allow more writers to turn into david cage, M Night Shyamalan, or stephenie meyer.

If you want the best for the rwby series and the rwby brand then you cannot accept mediocrity, you need to be vocal otherwise the writers won’t be incentivized to do better. And it doesn’t have to be straight up criticism, you can word it your way as long as it helps the writing grow, but at the point we’re at and how nice or not miles and kerry take current criticism rwby will continue to plummet and honestly that’s a disappointment.

To all fellow rwde and non rwde who have supported me thus far? Thank you, this has been a wild ride and while we possibly haven’t seen eye to eye I enjoyed and learn alot from watching you over the years, and now I think it’s finally time for the vet to retire and give the reins to new people, I received alot of kind messages from this and they touched my heart, take care rwby critics, it’s been real.

-A past fan of rwby

#crticism #rwde #rwby criticism #rwby volume 6 #rwby critical #writing #finally my last rwde post #a goodbye #bad writing

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zeciex · 6 years ago

Text

Obsidian & Angelite Ch. 8 M

Oya has spend centuries bound to one single plot of land when one day a stranger with a voice of velvet and presence that can only be described as dark and outmost interesting. He comes with an offer she can’t refuse and suddenly her entire world changes, both for better and worse.

But what does Langdon need of her? And how can she use him to get what she want? Maybe they’re bound by something bigger than fate.

Warning: Dark themes, Strong Language, Sex (oral and penetrative), cream pie.

A/N: Since tumblr kills everything with links, I’ll reblog this post with the links to previous chapters and archive link

The Inbetween Calls

For days she’d listened to a voice, a mere gust of wind with no words, begging her forward, pulling at invisible tethers tied around her body. The dark waters of the lake called, black as ink, a void in the landscape. It beckoned her forward finding her finally at the water, it's cold bite nibbling at her toes.

She wasn't sure how she got there, a moment ago the sun had been high on the sky and she was inside the warm walls of Michaels home, with him ghosting his lips over her skin and whispering ‘You’ve been standing here for days looking out at the lake’. She couldn’t recall what she answered.

There were cuts all over her legs, scratches from branches and stones looking like claw marks. Like the marks the skeletons had made.

It wasn’t before she was waist deep that she heard Michael callout her name from the shore and she was jolted back into reality. The water was cold, it brought paleness to her skin and formed goosebumps over it.

“Stay there, Michael! There’s something I need to see,” she called back.

Michael ran his hands through his hair and scoffed with annoyance before stepping out into the water ruining his fine leather shoes. “Come back, Oya! You’re going to get hypothermia or fucking drown.”

Instead of listening to him, she continued until her feet didn’t touch the bottom, until her chiffon dress laciously moved around her like a veil caught in the wind. The stream pulled at her, dragged her beneath the surface with a cold hand. Invisible strings wrapped around her ankles. Underneath the surface she saw herself reflected, her hair floated around her, skin pale as the moonlight, eyes endless voids. She sank, hands reaching towards the sky. Darkness surrounded her, she felt the water press in on her, guiding bubbles out of her lungs that rushed to the surface. Her eyes closed and body began to fight against the tethers that dragged her down.

She bursted through the surface in the great inbetween, hands splashing through water and gripping the invisible foor. Suddenly she wasn’t swimming in the water but lying on the watered floor, with only inches of water between the bottom and the surface. For the first time she was completely soaked through, hair clinging to her skin, water dripping off of her.

Oya pushed to stand, her lungs filling with air, painting violently while her body shook. It was cold here, freezing. Her breath formed evaporating clouds in front of her face. Something whispered at her. Through her body she felt a hollow coldness run, fear coursing through her blood.

She ran, the water splashing up at each step until she felt stones beneath her feet, water suddenly thicker and sticky. Looking down she found that the stones were not stones at all but bones and the water were blood. Thousands of bones, millions of them as far as the eye could see were lying all around her. Mountains of them. She turned, her heart beating rapidly in her chest, constraining her breathing and drying out her mouth. So many skulls with empty hollow eyes looked upon her, their eyes sad and pained. The bones groaned and cracked beneath her heels as she stumbled through them, eyes violently skaning over the surroundings.

The sky was grey as ash and closer to her than she had ever experienced, she could almost touch the clouds. The air vibrated with pain, screams piercing through her, cries filling the air. The pain crawled under her skin, it felt so massive, so all consuming it made her head spin.

Never had she experienced the world in such complete and agonizing pain, so filled with sadness. Never had she ever felt so alone. There were nothing but death. Death and destruction.

Her eyes snapped to a figure on top of a mountain of bones. He turned slowly, pushing his hood down to reveal long golden locks and piercing blue eyes that could look straight into a person's soul. Even if he looked older with longer hair and a hint of red eyeshadow at the inner corners of his eyes she could recognize him anywhere. Michael looked down upon her with indifference.

It pained her. She began to stumble towards him, feeling her feet sink in between the bones, slip in the blood. It felt like a nightmare, watching him watching her with indifference. She felt small and insignificant. The fear of abandonment bittering her tongue and forcing tears to her eyes.

Why where she shown this? What was the meaning?

“Michael!” She screamed at him, reaching for him and wanting nothing more than for him to reach for her. But he didn’t, he instead stepped back and turned. “Michael! Don’t! Don’t leave me, Michael. Please!”

Boney hands wrapped around her ankles causing her to fall. Bones snapped under her weight, ashes stinging her eyes, bones cutting at her skin. The world pressed in on her, the overflowing pain that shouted out from every bone, every open mouth in empty cries. Her body was dragged back, down into the mass of blood and bones, her fingers gripped at nothing in an attempt to keep above ground, to not be dragged into the darkness that felt like death. She cried for Michael, cried for him not to leave her behind and become another one of the many skeletons, just another body in the mass grave that was the world.

Her fight was futile, she had seen what it had meant for her to see. Pieces of the future entwined with pieces of her worst nightmare, one she had just realised. The future was death and she wasn’t sure if that meant her own. All the wanted was to be by Michaels side and he had left her so easily.

“M-Michael!” She screamed with what energy she had left, the weight of the bones pressing in on her with just her head above ground hands reaching for the sky as if someone would ascend down to rescue her. Blood began to fill her eyes and with one last breath she was gone.

There was an empty calm to the darkness. Nothing, no pain, no fear, nothing.

From the nothingness there sprung a fire, that burned through her lungs until water were cast out of her mouth. Something warm were lying on her chest, pressing the water out of her lungs. For a moment she laid there underneath the stars just staring up until she coughed up another breaths of water. It burned and hurt, tears mixing with lake water upon her skin.

Her body began to shake as she realised she was back in the real world, lying at the lakeside, with Michael breathing heavily above her, his hair now in wet lumps, a complete mess, water dripping from his nose and onto her skin. He looked like a drowned cat.

“What happened?” She croaked, breathing fresh air. Michael looked at her with fury and who could blame him.

“I brought you back,” he panted, trying to dry the water off his face with his wet sleeve. “What the fuck was that?” When she sat up Michael removed his hand from her chest and instead removed the hair from her face with affection. His anger was mixed with relief and relief turned to a chuckle when her teeth began to clatter from the cold.

“Let’s get back,” he said with a softer tone, lifting her up. She rested her head against his shoulder, pressing in on his warmth. God she wished he could just consume her and warm her up that way.

“You l-look absolutely terrible. I-I think it’s the first time I’ve seen you look terrible,” she mumbled against his chest. There were chaos within her mind, millions of thoughts intertwined into a big mess with no end and no beginning. The vision daunted at the edge of her mind, slowly revealing itself, cutting through the cluttering chaos with a sharp clarity.

“And who’s to blame for that?” He uttered gently.

The trees turned into walls, cold wind into a warm one, darkness into light as Michael stepped through time and space and into her bathroom. He put her down inside the shower with a gentleness only expressed towards her. The stream turned hot immediately when he turned on the shower, taking the head and rinsing off the lake water and dirt from Oya’s body.

“What did you see?” He asked and lead the stream wash over her shoulder and neck to clean it off dirt. Oya frowned, brows knitting together when she remembered. He was going to end the world, burn it down into cinder and ashes. He was going to use her and then let her burn in the fires, leave her behind to die. A blistering anger boiled within her chest.

“Nothing,” she dismissed and moved away from his touch. Michael noticed the change and stopped, suddenly confused by her distance and coldness in her tone.

“Nothing?”

“Nothing to concern you with,” she voiced without sparing him a glance. Michael grabbed her jaw and forced her to look at him, the anger evident in both his eyes and voice.

“I say it’s something to concern myself with. What did you see, Oya.” He didn’t ask anymore he demanded. Nails dragged over skin when she forced his hands off of her.

“It’s none of your fucking business! You don’t tell me everything so why should I? What are you gonna do, huh? Are you going to force it out of me?” She spat at him. The muscles moved beneath his skin as he clenched his jaw, the grip around the showerhead becoming forceful and turning his knuckles white. If her anger boiled his blazed. “What is it you’re so worried I’ll see?”

Michael refused to answer. The water rose up when he let go of the showerhead before he walked out, not saying a single thing. His hands were clenched into balls at his side. Instead of yelling, instead of showing a display of anger and how far his powers really reached he choose to walk away, leaving a bewilted Oya staring after him. In truth she’d have thought he’d mirror her anger and explode. Instead he controlled it and left her with a hollow feeling inside.

Why’d he leave like that? If he wanted her to tell the truth he could easily have made her and yet he didn't.

She didn’t understand him.

This boy would bring the end of the world, he’d kill billions of people and yet he had done nothing to harm her, ever. It should scare her, the apocalypse, she should fight against it and feel for the people who’d all perish but she didn't. The world had never done anything for her, she would not weep at its end. What scared her was her abandonment, that Michael would leave her to die when the time came.

He was the antichrist and what would he need a goddess for when he had the world by its throat.

With quivering lips Oya picked up the showerhead letting the water warm her.

They avoided each other like the plague. Two days went by in the blink of an eye. Michael had become a ghost that haunted her relentlessly. She heard his steps, felt his presence but never saw him. And she were angry for that, angry that he was angry with her when he was the one that never truly let her in. As much as he spoke of the bond between them he never revealed more of himself, of his plans, of the future and instead he had focused on her, made her reveal her soul to him, made her bound not only by the bond between them but also by owing him for releasing her.

Two days turned into four.

Each night brought her frustrations when her dreams left her aching for him, for his touch, his mouth, his being. Any relief she tried to give herself never satisfied the growing need. Dreamful nights turned into sleepless ones.

One night the ache was too much and though she was still angry with him, the need drow her to his door in the middle of the night. She pushed open the glass and stepped inside, finding Michael tugged under the covers. For a moment she considered leaving, no harm would have been done if he never knew she was there. That moment disappeared when he sat up and looked directly at her, hair still tousled from sleep. The need set root, it burned out any remainder of sanity that told her that her anger was valid and she should turn around.

Softly she pushed the collar of the robe over her shoulders and let it fall to the floor, revealing her naked body for his eyes and his eyes only. With confidence she walked to him, first caressing his cheek before pushing away the covers. More than anything else he was curious as to what exactly she was doing. He didn’t oppose when she straddled his hips and leaned in to trail kissed over his neck, carefully grinding into him. Her teeth grazed over his sensitive skin drawing a deep and rumbling moan from his throat, one that she felt tremble through her lips. She sank her teeth into his shoulder hard enough to bruise, it earned another moan, hips shifting up into her. With agonizingly slow kisses and maddening nibbles, she made her way down his body, nails raking red lines over his pale skin. He marked her, he had always been the one to do so and the only thing she left on him had always been red nail marks but now, now she let her kisses become blooming flowers with purple pedals. She bit at the skin of his hip, fingers pulling at the band of his boxers until his erection sprung free, hard and needy.

Oya gazed up at him, desire bruning in her eyes. Michael was looking at her the exact same way, the blue eyes darkening when she wrapped her hand around his cock. Her tongue darted out and traced over the head, Michael mewling at the feeling, his head falling back against the pillow and hips lifting off the bed with need. Oya took her time teasing him, letting her hot breath tickle against his skin, grip loosening, tongue circling the head. He growled, fingers curling in the bedding. She smirked at him, empowered by his need for her touch and yet not begging for it.

She savored the moment before wrapping her mouth around him. Michaels eyes fluttered at the feeling, a loud moan tearing through his throat. Her mouth were hot and soft. She hollowed out her cheeks and sucked until his body was shaking. Slowly she sank further and further down, lightly pressured by the hands that were now curled in her hair, fingers massaging her scalp. Around him she swallowed, eyes watering at the feeling of him in her throat and still she continued. The ache between her legs grew, she wanted to grind against the mattress just for some sort of relief. The hand not wrapped around his cock found its way between her legs, trailing circles over her clit, the feeling dragging a moan from her. It vibrated through him, his hips snapping up with a feverish need.

Oya continued through tears until she was forcibly removed by Michael, his one hand coming to wrap itself around the base of his cock and effectively stopping himself from coming right then and there. With a confused expression on her face she looked at him. Drying of her saliva with her hand.

Michael pulled her to him, pressing a kiss upon her lips. The kiss was hot and hard, almost with bruising intent and yet with tenderness enough to let them pant against each others lips, silent moans swallowed and teeth grazing the others tongue. With force Oya pushed Michael back until he laid down, straddling his hips once more. His erection pulsed with need, jittering against the skin of his lower stomach. Oya teased him by slowly rolling her hips against his, her folds lubricated him, readying for further interaction. Her eyes rolled in her head, feeling him brush against her, feeling him underneath and when he moaned she moaned with him.

In this madness she wasn’t only driving him crazy but also herself.

“Oya.” By the simple mention of her name she lined him up with her and slowly sank onto him, clenching her walls around him that dragged an animalistic growl from his lips. The sound were absolutely the most erotic thing, it burned through her body, coiled within her with immediate force. The feeling of him inside of her made her eyes flutter and toes curl.

Michaels hands glided up her thighs, holding onto her while she controlled the speed, the motion, she controlled him.

Oya opened her mouth in a silent moan, rolling her hips against his, sliding up and down on his shaft that felt so incredibly fulfilling, it made her eyes water. The pace were slow at first, letting her get used to his size, sinking down onto him until he was buried at the shaft.

With a cruel smirk she ceased to move, instead clenching around him. She kept like that even when his hips tried to jerk up into her, even when he looked up at her with burning desire, brows knitted in pleasure and a hint of pain. She wanted to let him know she was the one who decides what happens, that this time he were a mere tool since her anger towards him hadn’t changed. It was a punishment and when he let a little whine escape she was nothing less than satisfied.

When she began to move again the pleasure washed over her with massive waves, breath caught in her chest. The pace became faster, she finally allowed him to thrust up into, the feeling making her heart flutter and cunt grow wetter.

To steady herself, she grabbed the headboard, fingers digging into the wood. Her hair hung over her shoulders, tickling against his chest while their eyes were locked on one another. She bit her lip trying to stifle a moan when he hit just the right spot that electrified every cell in her body. The metallic taste lingered in her mouth as a reminder of how hard she’d bitten herself. A drop of blood fell from her lip and onto his, licked away by that sinful tongue of his, the one who so skilfully turned truths into weapons and lies into truths.

His nails scrapped over her thighs making her eyes flutter at the pain, heart beating within her chest and blood pumping uncontrollably through her veins. He reached up, wanting nothing more than to taste the metal on her tongue but she firmly planted a hand on his chest, forcing him backwards. Instead she also leaned back, taking his hands and leading them to her breasts. No words were needed, as she continued to chase after pleasure, riding him with an animalistic need, he massaged her breasts, taking her nipples between his fingers and rolling the bud with slight hardness, a delicious pain.

Michael sat up with a suddenness, mouth taking her nipple in, softly biting at the sensitive skin as if it were the apple of eden. Oya moaned loudly not able to keep it in, breath caught in her lungs. Her hands ran through his hair, taking hold and forcing his head back to place a needy kiss on his mouth, taking his tongue in. He thrust into her and matched her moan with his own, only to be pushed down against the mattress once more.

She was so close that her legs were trembling, beads of sweat running down her back, hair sticking to her body. By the look of chased bliss on his face, she’d argue that he were close as well, his legs almost trembling as much as her own. The ache that had build up over the days apart ripped through their bodies, it burned hot and long, shot with electrifying bursts up through their bodies as they came in total and utter ecstasy.

For a moment everything turned white with pleasure, there were only the sensation of undeniably sweetness. Michael thrusted shallowy up into her a few more times, prolonging his own pleasure. Oya hummed satisfied, feeling his seed fill her. If it weren't for her knowledge in herbs and medicine she’d have become pregnant with his child long ago by how deep his seed seemed to reach, how completely filled she felt. She remained, hands running over his skin just to feel him, feel the heat radiating off of him and bask in the glory of coming.

It took a moment until she had gathered and composed herself enough to rise from him, feeling their juices drip out of her and run down her legs when she finally stood.

He didn’t argue for her to stay, actually he didn’t say anything and she didn’t care to listen. Instead she walked to her robe and picked it up, wrapping it around herself on the way to the door. There were no words to be spoken, their fight wasn’t over, this had been a mere truce to satisfy their carnal needs.

If he had asked she would have stayed but he didn’t.

Oya turned halfway through the door. “Goodnight, Michael.”

#michael langdon #michael langdon imagine #michael langdon fic #obsidian & angelite

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i-am-the-entertainer · 6 years ago

Text

RevieWBY Volume 6, Chapter 9: “Lost”

Well. Didn’t need a feels trip.

We’re in the middle of a run of episodes where excitement isn’t drawn from massive fights but from learning things about characters that we didn’t know before, or could do with learning more about them. Really all of Volume 6 seems to be about drawing excitement from a variety of sources. I’ve seen some fan responses that are complaining about the lack of fights we’ve had in the past couple of episodes and citing it as a reason the show is bad and boring. I don’t know what’s going on in their minds that they’re completely ignoring the massive info dump that was Chapter 3 or even the number of fights we’ve actually had during this production block, but I want to say that RWBY would be an extremely shallow show if all the excitement and action came from the fight scenes alone. If you actually want a well-written show, then you need to recognize RWBY’s merits beyond epic fight sequences. The show has never relied on the fights alone, besides Volume 3 they’ve only ever had a few fight episodes per volume. Also, we’re around three-quarters of the way into the volume, maybe be a little more patient?

The Henchperson’s Dilemma

Here we have some payoff after patiently waiting for more insight into them for years now. This sequence with Emerald and Mercury is the biggest individual focus they’ve gotten in the show since Volume 3, and it doesn’t disappoint. People have commented on just how out of place they seem as part of Salem’s machinations, even when we didn’t know what those machinations were exactly; Emerald’s allegiance has always been with Cinder, and Mercury is basically stumbling to find some greater purpose he can follow.

This seems like a character point that should have been directly addressed earlier, especially considering they were basically sidelined for all of Volume 4, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of the storylines that got cut during that volume’s writing process. Really, this whole scene covers information we’ve been waiting for for a while: Mercury’s backstory, Emerald’s dependence on Cinder getting called out, the two of them being told they’re out of their league as followers of Salem. At the very least I’m happy it’s happened, regardless of whether I think it should have happened earlier or not.

I’m coming at what I’m about to say fully well knowing RWBY cannot and will not attempt to handle juggling fifty different storylines again, but something to think about: as they are no longer paired with Cinder and her storyline, Emerald and Mercury have kind of been placed into a position where I would go so far to say they don’t really count as antagonists anymore. Their central goals no longer seem to be based against Team RWBY and JNR, they’re loose cannons. So where is their story going? Will they abandon Salem and attempt to find Cinder on their own? Will they leave Salem’s realm and join up with the heroes? Will they do something that will result in Salem killing one or both of them?

The writer in me really only sees one thing in store for these two: they’re not gonna stay in the role they’ve had since Volume 2 for much longer. We’ve been building up to that transition since the Volume 4 premiere. Whatever happens next to them is going to be a big switch. Personally, I’m betting on whatever solution occurs will result in them disappearing from the show for some time, be it them getting killed or swearing off this whole business and going off on their own (especially considering CRWBY is trying to deal with their cast being too large).

Someone Left The Cake Out In The Rain

See? What did I tell you? The clip was unfinished. I mean, it was even missing part of Saphron’s dialogue, probably because that particular scene wasn’t done being animated. God, you people are complete idiots. Like legitimately, how old are some of you even?

We can all agree that JNR’s unpleasant reaction in Chapter 8 lies in the fact that they had been told to their faces that Pyrrha’s death had been in vain, so the scene in the park feels like the payoff to that reaction. If you’ve been following my RWBY posts you’re probably aware that this sequence in the park is my absolute favorite, but for this post I’ll just say it works very well in service of the overall volume: addressing and providing closure to JNR coping with Pyrrha’s death, offering a potential glimpse at how her family handled it, recognizing the importance of death (in a show where death seemed to lose meaning with the Weiss getting impaled cliffhanger last year). Plus we have the ambiguity of whether she was really a relative or something supernatural. I’d go so far to say this is the best scene in the entire volume, perhaps the show.

Which is...uh...more than I can say for the next scene.

Farm Boi’s Back

sigh. Okay, even in a volume that is seen as a marked improvement over previous ones, I suppose every RWBY critic is gonna have a moment they really don’t like that they see the fandom love. The last section of this chapter is that moment for me.

This is the first time this volume where I feel like planting-payoff failed, and it failed on two very different fronts: Qrow was set up for a long-term character arc where he needed to be confronted by Ruby in a rousing speech; and Oscar dealing with the immediate antagonism he got from JNR. Neither arc was concluded in a satisfying way, much less in a way that they deserved to end.

Qrow and Ruby’s conflict needed a lot more time to reach the boiling point it did in this episode,. It needed an actual conversation between the two of them, like a one-on-one case, it feels awkward to have her put her foot down in front of everyone when this has been between the two of them for most of the volume. And you can sort of tell even the writers are somewhat aware it’s happening too early: the speech feels generic, like a battle cry someone writes without really knowing what the battle is about. It felt undeserved.

I suppose this is dependent on finding out what direction they’re taking Oscar in the final few episodes, but there absolutely needed to be a scene of Oscar wandering around Argus alone, thinking and reflecting. Especially after what he’s been put through this volume, whatever time he had to think should have been shown, not related by him at the end of the chapter. It’s violating the rule of show-don’t-tell. Having that uncertainty from the end of Chapter 8 and continuing it through most of this chapter with a meh payoff seems an eery repeat of Volume 5′s unnecessary cliffhangers: framing it as dramatic but not following through on that promise and the truth being downright mediocre for what the cliffhanger implied.

Now, something I should say: if RWBY could put out 20-30 minutes per chapter, these are scenes that would have absolutely been done. The problem is with the way it’s produced it can’t tell 20-30 minutes per chapter, and you can tell the writing wants that amount of time: it’s telling a story beyond what it is capable of and thus needs to sacrifice/spread out some story arcs we all want in order to cover them all. Now, I’m not sure what they have planned for Emerald and Mercury, it may be the case their importance is gonna increase in the coming volumes, but I honestly would have preferred time devoted to the aforementioned arcs than the scene at Salem’s castle. But that’s just me.

So yeah, I didn’t like this scene. I liked the principle behind it, but the show hadn’t done enough to justify the closing out of two story threads.

Conclusions

So, I’m conflicted about this episode. I enjoyed it, they really delivered on a lot of material, but I can’t really call it a good episode. Emerald and Mercury’s scene is good insight into them and the park scene is amazingly written, but...the final scene just doesn’t work very well.

Earlier in the volume I mentioned my biggest concern that with the amount of excitement that occurred in the first half, they would not be able to keep up the momentum for the entire volume. It’s kind of too early to tell because for all I know they could ramp up the bonkers stuff in the final four chapters, but Chapters 8 and 9 are definitely ones where it feels like that momentum falters. As I mentioned, Chapter 8 felt kind of slow, and despite all the good things that happen in Chapter 9, the fact that it closes out two plot threads in a disappointing manner just makes the whole thing leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Still, this doesn’t really bother me that much: Volume 6′s focus on shorter “event arcs” (as I’m gonna call them) has given them a little more leeway in delivering on material. With the way Volume 5 was set up story arcs got stretched across the whole volume, and a single disappointing payoff had a lot more behind its back to derail things. The disappointment I personally felt for this chapter is coming off the back of a lot of high points, so it’s not really tainting my overall perception of the show.

So overall? A disappointing episode with some really good moments. We’re riding on a season that has been mostly highs, we’re allowed to have some lows.

#rwby #rwby6 #reviewby #crtq

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demonwriterx · 6 years ago

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Daring Do and the Winter Pearl- CH 1

(Cover Art made by ChaosQueen2- Link to her deviant art. She is really good, she did like two covers of my fanfiction. https://chaosqueen2.deviantart.com/art/Daring-Do-and-the-search-for-the-Winter-Pearl-568661942?ga_submit_new=10%253A1445965919 )

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This is a new revised and edited version of my daring do fan fiction for the my little pony series. I actually started this in 2014!...Im not done with the series. but I started to remember it and I wanted to fix the plot so I redid the first chapter, I hope you all like it!

“Stolen Power”

Daring Do entered the maze of the Ivory Temple of the White Tiger. She had been searching for the infamous Winter Pearl. A delicate, white orb, rumored to bring about an eternal winter throughout the world, if its power be put into use. As frightening as that was, Daring Do had no reason to worry as she would recover the powerful artifact and put it in the Canterlot Museum to be admired by thousands. The Winter Pearl would also be under the watchful eyes of the Canterlot guards and the princesses themselves.

Daring Do wiped the sweat off of her brow. The humidity of the rainforest was beginning to wear her down. She had been traveling in the dense jungle for over twenty days. She had dealt with itchy mosquito bites, sticky quicksand and the occasional venomous flying snakes but she pushed through while following a worn-down map, made hundreds of years ago. She managed to stumble upon the map on an expedition to the sister temple, The Ebony Temple of the Black Jaguar. There was no treasure, instead, she found the map in a hidden chamber. Now, she stood at the entrance of the maze to the Ivory Temple. It was dark. The only source of light was the moon. In the tall trees, she heard the soft sounds of the nocturnal insects. Her ears went up when she heard a slight “snap”. She turned her head and peered into the trees. She scanned the tree line and saw a pair of yellow eyes. She instinctively went to her whip until she saw the pair of eyes fly up and perch onto a branch. She sighed when she saw it was just a native bird. She relaxed when she took the map out from under her pith helmet. The map showed her the path to the Ivory Temple but it didn’t hold a hint on how to navigate the inside of it.

In order to protect the treasure, the inhabitants of the temple created the maze to confuse robbers from stealing the powerful artifact. She placed the map back underneath her helmet, having fulfilled its purpose. She picked up a sharp stone from the ground and scraped it across the stone wall of the temple’s maze. Sparks of cinders flashed in front of her, making her smirk in satisfaction. She grabbed a convenient torch from off the wall. She took out a small rag from her saddle bag and a bottle of alcohol. She always carried a bottle for long adventures, just in case she needs a break. Unfortunately, she took a lot of breaks as the bottle was nearly empty. She used the last of it to dampen the rag before tying it to the torch. With the rock, she created a spark from off the wall and immediately lite it on fire. With the new source of light, she concluded she would have a few hours to make it in and out of the maze.

She titled her helmet down and began to determinedly traverse through the maze. Throughout the years of adventuring, she knew that there was always a secret to get through traps or mazes safely. All she had to look for was the hidden signs. Signs helped the inhabitants get through the maze safely while keeping thieves out. Luckily, Daring Do was not a thief. Her eyes narrowed on the walls, checking for any type of markings etched on the walls, floor of ceiling. She bit the inside of her cheek, knowing that each minute she waste staring at the walls, the torch will burn up and she’ll be trapped in the dark. She decided to take another look at the map. Her eyes scanned across the itchy page, trying to find a clue. Her eyes stopped at the middle of the map, which showed a crude drawing of the Winter Pearl. Above it, there was an upside-down triangle containing two lines, titled downward like a pair of claws swiped down on it. Her head shot up as she lifted the torch. She looked again at the walls and there, etched into a stone, were the two slash marks. She wasted no time as she galloped through the maze. She took a left, a right, another right and a left turn again, following the markings. She was constantly glancing at her torch, calculating the time in her head. The flame was growing weaker, which meant she only had less than an hour. She raced down the hall, taking another right turn before finally entering the chamber of the infamous Winter Pearl.

It was a large tower corridor. In front of her was a single aisle of stone, leading up to the pearl. The aisle was twenty-five feet in Below it was a dark abyss. One slip and a pony could fall to their deaths. Luckily, she had wings. When she looked up, she could see the tip of the pyramid as the moonlight perfectly landed on top of an ivory pedestal in the middle of the room. The Winter Pearl was embedded inside the chest of obsidian tiger, surrounded by tall white pillars. She noticed how the pillars acted like anchors, holding the tip of the pyramid up. She knew there must be a trap in place, as the pillars could crack and jeopardize the integrity of the structure. She slowly walked towards the pearl, tip toeing her way over to it. She didn’t want to accidently trigger another trap. She was only a hoof-length away from statue. She licked her lips in anticipation as she reached out. She froze when she heard a familiar hiss of a certain pet cat. She whirled around and found herself face to face with the animal kingdom’s monster ferocious wild cats…plus a pet cat.

“Daring Do, what a surprise…” a sultry voice said with a chuckle. Daring could practically see the sarcasm dripping out of Ahuizotl’s mouth when he spoke.

She blew a strand of her mane out of her eyes. “Ahuizotl.” She began with a smirk. “How nice to see you again, how long had it been? A month, a couple of months? I’ve been gone far too long without seeing your striking face.”

“Sixty-three days.” He said with a growl before shrugging his shoulders. “But who is counting?”

“Do you really think you have a chance to beat me, Ahuizotl? After all these years of trying and failing…when have you ever won?” She smiled.

“Hmm, funny. But if you believe I’ll be handing over the Pearl to you, you are more than mistaken. Miss Do.” With a snap of his tail, his cats attacked.

The black panther leapt into the air, its claws extended. Daring Do anticipated the attack, flying up into the air in a reverse somersault. She kicked the jaw of the large cat, sending it back towards Ahuizotl. It shook its head and roared in anger. Daring Do narrowed her eyes, glaring straight into the panther’s gold eyes. The cheetah and the tiger attacked in unison. Daring flew to the right, avoiding the cheetah’s attack. But the tiger slammed its paw against her head, sending her to the ground. She swiftly punched at the tiger, slamming her front hoof into its head and sending it off her, yowling in pain. The cheetah followed through, leaping above her. Daring Do leapt into the air, did a back flip and kicked the cheetah in the stomach. She sent the spotted cat over the edge but the cheetah was quick to hand onto the edge, barely hanging on. Daring Do flapped her wings, softening her landing as she touched down onto the floor with ease. Daring ducked when the panther attacked once more. With another swing, she grabbed onto the panther’s scruff and threw it into the tiger. The two cats collided, leaving them booth disoriented and out of the way. The bobcat was easier to take out. One buck and it skidded across the aisle. The white cat hissed and leapt forward. Daring Do prepared herself to deflect the feral feline, but it flew over her head, landing behind her. It was a distraction. Before she could react, she was grabbed from behind by Ahuizotl. She let out a scream when he squeezed her. Ahuizotl chuckled at her pain.

“Tsk, tsk Miss Do, you should know to never turn your back away from me!” He said with a snap of his very sharp teeth.

Daring Do painfully let out a smile. “W-well…y-you are an a-affectionate ugh..hugger…”

“You have gotten in my way long enough!” He tightened his grip on her, making her cry out. He let out a loud cackle as he watched her struggle in vain. “But, perhaps, if you beg…I will show you mercy, eh? Miss Do-AH!” Ahuizotl yelled out suddenly, unexpectedly releasing Daring Do from his death grip. She fell to the ground, coughing as she began to take in air. When she turned around, she saw Ahuizotl curled up in a ball, shouting and writhing in immense pain. His hands reaching to his lower back. Daring blinked when she saw a stallion in a black cloak and hood, walk over Ahuizotl and up to her. She let out a small smile, slowly lifting herself up, wincing as she did. She suspected Ahuizotl might have cracked one of her ribs.

“Thanks for the help.” She weakly muttered to the stranger. She heard the stallion chuckle, making her raise a brow at him.

“Help you…? Oh, no Mon chou.” The stranger said gently, with a smooth voice that could lull a pony to sleep. “He was in the way. Just like you.”

“What?” Without any warning, the stranger punched her in the side. She fell to the ground, clutching her side, writhing in pain next to Ahuizotl. She gritted her teeth, glaring hatefully at the stallion. “If you will excuse me, I have a mission to complete.” The stranger strolled up to the statue. She and Ahuizotl watched helplessly as the mysterious stallion plucked the statue off its pedestal, concealing it under his robe. Just as Daring feared, a trap was triggered. The pedestal began to crumble as the temple began to shake.

“Oh dear,” The stallion covered his mouth in mock horror. He snickered when he calmly stepped over them. “I would love to stay and chat but, I prefer to not be buried alive.” Daring growled when the stallion disappeared into the maze, leaving them behind. She clenched her teeth, mentally scolding herself for not seeing the cheap move. She forced her wings open and flapped. She slowly lifted herself up to her hooves. Pieces of the temple began to fall around her. She turned to Ahuizotl, who was struggling to lift himself on all fours.

“Ahuizotl! Stop acting like an idiot and let’s go! The temple is going to bury you if you don’t move your flank!”

Ahuizotl let out a disgruntle groan. He tried to lift himself up, but collapsed once more. “I cannot! He has done something to my back, I cannot move!” With pieces of ivory crumbling around them, he chuckled softly. His head resting onto the cold floor. “It looks like this is the end of me…Daring Do.”

Daring rolled her eyes. “Ever thought about going into drama club? Come on!” She placed his arm around her shoulder and attempted to pick him up. She flapped her wings desperately but Ahuizotl was too heavy.

“What on earth are you doing?” He shouted. “Leave me! You stupid, ungrateful pony! I do not need your help!”

“Is this how you always act when someone is saving your life!” She let out a grunt, trying to drag him out. His weight suddenly became lighter. She turned to see his loyal cats at their master’s side, resting his arms over their own bodies. With the new help, the cats and Daring Do began to run through the collapsing maze. She looked at the flaming torches. They were almost extinguished. She pressed herself forward, picking up their pace. With one final turn, they all ran out of the temple just before it collapsed into rubble behind them. Daring Do and the cats fell to the ground, exhausted. Ahuizotl let out a hiss of pain when they dropped him.

“Medigos! A little more gentle!” He growled at Daring who pulled herself out from under him, giving him a direct glare.

“Thanks to your lackey, I lost the pearl! Do you have any idea how much money I lost! Not to mention how powerful that thing is!” She shouted and stomped her hoof.

“Save your childish tantrum!” He argued. “He was not my lackey; I came on my own accord with my pets. We were following you to get to the pearl first and destroy it!”

“So, you were after the pearl! I knew it! And... wait, you wanted to destroy it? I thought you wanted to use its power.” She said, giving him a suspicious look, not entirely believing him. She knew Ahuizotl and how he was a liar. He snorted at her words.

“Of course, I wanted to destroy it! I heard rumors of a pony wanting to get his dirty little hooves on its power in order to plunge the world into an eternal ice age!”

“How do I know you are not lying…” She asked. He raised a brow at her.

“I know you like making jokes, but I cannot tell if you are being serious. You do know I value the heat and humidity instead of the cold! I despise the cold!”

“All right! All right!” She said, rubbing her forehead. “Stop acting like a foal, I believe you. If he wasn’t working for you…then who was that pony?” She had never encountered a pony that moved as fast as that stallion did. She let out a low growl; she wanted to get her hooves around his neck. He took her treasure and she was determined to get it back.

“I might know the identity of who took the pearl.” Ahuizotl mentioned slyly, gaining Daring Do’s attention.

“Who is it?” She demanded. Her question only made Ahuizotl laugh. She gave him a glare. She really hated his laugh. It sounded like a hyena, scrapping it nails against a chalkboard.

“Please, you have made me laugh enough for today. I will never tell you.”

Daring Do flicked her mane back. “Fine…” She stated calmly. “I’ll just leave you here then. Without my help you won’t be able to move for days from that hit you took.”

“You are bluffing. You cannot help me. You are not a doctor.”

“You’d be surprised at what I can do, Ahuizotl.” She said, giving him a playful smirk. ‘I’m more than just a treasure hunter.” She turned away from him, flicking her tail at him like a whip. She headed towards the tree line. “I really have to get going. Have a nice night!” She began to walk away, counting the seconds until he changed his mind.

“W-wait!” He called out. She stopped in her tracks. He only lasted three seconds. “I will tell you who he is if you help me.” She turned back to him. “But only if you heal me!” She bit her lower lip in thought and nodded.

“Deal. But you better hold still.” She walked back over to him and climbed onto his back. He cringed in pain.

“I asked you to heal me, not stand on me!”

“Would you shut up! This is the only way to fix you!” He turned his head away from her. Daring cracked her neck and placed her front hooves on his shoulder blades. With a deep breath, she reared back on her hind legs and struck down, hitting right between his shoulder blades. The sudden shock of pain made Ahuizotl leap up onto all fours. He whirled at Daring in a rage.

"What are you doing?! Are you trying to kill me, you stupid, uneducated-!”

"You're standing, aren’t you?” she interrupted, holding a bored look on her face. He opened his mouth at her to argue but found himself in fact, standing on all fours. He shut his mouth. “Now it’s time for your end of the deal: Who was that pony?”

#Daring Do #Ahuizotl #fanfic #my little pony

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